Some Poetry for your Face

“Self”

I do not need to find myself
I am myself

Whatever’s been uncovered or discovered
Whatever will change or remain
I ride alongside what makes this me
The person I was, is, and will be

I do not need to find myself
I am myself

I am not a thing to find
like a lucky penny or lost shoe
I am not an X on a map
or buried in the sand

I am events and evolutions, epiphanies
and stagnancies
meandering paths and sharp right turns
In every holding pattern and express lane and dead-end street

These that cannot be caught with a net or
tied to a rock
But gently unraveled with time
Something you can only take in
like a wild and frightening story, no
endings or finales
Just bookmarks and dog-eared corners
Well-worn pages and fraying edges

I am exactly me when I’m not myself
I am still me, even when I do not want to be
It’s still there, something to carry regardless of weight
When it’s unbearably heavy or unbearably light
Whatever that me is destined to be, both
in and for this world.

That breath is me, that heartbeat’s me
That sigh and smile and closing eyes

It’s all me

I do not need to find myself.
I am myself.