Who I Am

I had a quite depressing epiphany today (which is ironic, considering how much fun I had. I'll write a story about it later, but I'm out of time now.)

Do they really see me?

Or just the outward perceptions?

There are so few people

who can see who I am.

 

Parents, siblings, a few treasured friends

are all who see through the layers of me,

past the physical manifestations

to the deep, intricate pathways

of my thoughts, my passions, my dreams...

 

Do we all experience this phenomenon?

Or am I trapped to swim

through emotions so deep

that none around me can understand?

What is this ever-expanding barrier

that isolates us in tiny pockets

of true understanding and compassion?

 

Or are they more like chains?

Each circle overlapping slightly,

so that although I do not understand someone,

I truly know sombody, forming a living link

to anybody on Earth?

 

I take heart, though,

in my own secret knowledge

of the Currents of spirit

that bind and connect

every particle of every being

to everything else in the universe.

I take strength from the fact

that those chains of lapping circles

form an unbreakable net

around the world as we know it

and the few, treasured people who know

Who I Am.

Author's Note

As always, feel free to critique.

Reviews

[Wildfleour]

Justin - Although I am many years your senior, I can tell you that I completely identify with this writing. I experienced the same thing this weekend and I wrote "Life Force" as a reminder, just like you did towards the end of this poem, that ultimately we are all connected, even if we feel disconnected at times.

(Take a look how you used capital letters for the first word of every line)

[Xtabber]

You will be different people to various people in your life. No one will ever see you as you see yourself. That's OK, actually.

Zen Buddhism teaches that we ascribe characteristics to people and things, when in fact, they are empty containers that we fill with our own preconceptions, foibles and notions. It's nearly impossible to describe something without filling this container with other things.

Save the best of yourself for the best of the people you love.

[Thomas James Martin]

I enjoyed it and feel that way at times, Justin. I guess I just do not expect too much of people. I too feel we are all connected, but sometimes the "spiritual magma" is so thick it interferes with the consciousness of other people.
Tom