“Hell is other people”—Sartre's idea
about the look and the perpetual
ontological struggle of being
caused to see oneself as an object from the view of another consciousness.
Hell is other people, Sartre once said.
Their gaze, their adoration,
Fleeting satisfaction,
Sweet intoxication.
Like an invisible addiction it entangles
the naive in the eyes of others —
A beautiful prison decorated with epiphyllums and bewitching colours.
May you have the discernment to realise
May you have the courage to flee.