If I invent a character in prose,
His presence does not prove that I exist.
If anything, that’s not the way it goes:
Existence is an attribute of his.
I thought what mattered was to make my mark
But then I found that marks all wash away.
“I think therefore I am” has lost its spark
“I am therefore I think” holds firmer sway.
When mystery outside your window clatters,
Look not for unseen goblins but for knocking.
And let the conversation be what matters:
Discussion, not the minds behind the talking.
So do not put the cart before the horse,
And do not put Descartes before discourse.
Michael Karson, Ph.D. 
This is very nice – elegant, delicately phrased, melodic and trenchant.
Thanks!
I love the last stanza and last line as a turn of phrase. My attention is on the second stanza and our urge to make marks and it reminds me of a Beatles song. Lennon wrote “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done. Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.” He is saying as I hear you saying, “you are not special, stop worrying about being special (making your mark), and live your life because all this preoccupation with special is getting in the way. Descartes appeals to our vanity, our specialness. We do this really unique thing that no other animals can do. We can think in the abstract. Well ladie frickin da!
We get so busy trying to figure out what is making the window clatter, when we could just open it up and ask.
Thanks! All you need is love. And, you know, protein. I’m not so sanguine about finding out what’s going on by asking, but that’s another post.