As the bell tolls

I was not there.
O but you were!
I am not there.
O but you are!
You breathe an air
that is all men's air;
you eat of bread
that is all men's bread.
This is your earth,
this your sphere:
this - in a seamless
round - your where.
And none can say
I was not there:
only aware or unaware.
All else we share.
All else we share.

• Reprinted with permission of the executors of the estate of Robert Peel.