I sat unravelling a mass of wool
As tangled as my identity.
One strand at a time, from the vicious loop
Towards a possible harmony.
I am my country,
My colour , my creed
I am my gender,
My language, my breed
I am wha t ” I” think
I ‘m what “You” see in me
A prisoner enchained,
A spirit that’s free.
I am my bones, my muscles, my cells
I am my genes , my chemistry
I ‘m my own compass to chart my seas
I’m nothing but my destiny.
I am joy, I ‘m sorrow
I am guilt, I am greed
I am what they taught me
I am what I read
I ‘m my past unfolding
I’m the seed, I’m the tree.
I am limitations
I am possibility.
I am the expanse of the limitless sky
I’m the mystery of the abyss deep
I am the songs that I scribble and sing.
I am the secrets that I keep.
I am a poem, I’m a prayer
I’m a circle, I’m a square
I’m an island, I’m a stream
I am buried, I am bare.
I’m the cycle that repeats
I am life, I am death
I’m the silence that enfolds
My heartbeat and my breath.
I ‘m the bird in flight and I am the worm
I am the mountain and the meadow green
I ‘m the lashing storm and the gentle breeze
I’m the seraphic being and the monster mean.
I am peace, I’m perfection
I’m the truth in illusion
I’m the music in you
That sings in me.
I dwell in beauty
I’m Om and Ameen
I am the saint and the sinner
I’m the dawn serene.
I am and I’m not, I’m awake in my dream
I am awareness and eternal bliss
I am what I am, I’m not what I seem.
I am the kisser as well as the kiss.
I am in the conch shell
And the rosary beads
I am that ocean
To which all rivers lead
I am questions at rest
I am below , I am above
I am the answer I seek
I am joy, I am love