Born…
with flesh that contradicts nervous system
that contradicts skeletal system
I am body
torn by its very nature
I am lost
with troubled soul
swirling in the cesspool that is life
only hope of firm ground
I am teen
with limited past yet promising future
the result of an overbearing mother
and a negligent father
I am young black man
who has acted as a dumping ground
for words of wisdom
and honorable ethics
I am tamed chameleon
I am weary traveler
yet to begin his journey
nothing more than a loner searching for a rock
I am questioning dreamer
a blind eye
trapped on the inside looking out
I am double-edged book
bound at the hems
by veins interwoven into a heart of passionless calm
I am heart
that beats once a year
and on occasion of a pulse through my ear
I am sound wave
waiting for my group
a team of gears
interlocking and shifting
interlocking and shifting
in constant pattern
too scared to slip outside the mold
I am puppeteer’s puppet
my strings stay taut even in moments of rebellion
I am slave to those who lead
because I
am
innate follower
I am pawn to those who will me
and doormat to those who seek refuge
I am the lethargic day
that drags into eternity
the deplorable boredom that hinders life
I am the sad sap
that rolls down a crying tree
I am the lack
that fills the vacuum
the fluff
that merely attracts the eye while providing nothing
I am intricate façade
for bland building
I am sky-filled bottle
with unscrewed cap
an underman
with self-contained potential
I am statistic
a variable trying to escape definition
I am athlete
natural as the earth
at heart
a quitter trained to persevere
I am carbon footprint
being slowly blown away by the sands of time
All these things I am
yet all at once I am not
I am not what you see
nor what you know
for I cannot be known
I am not philosopher
but then again
if we count what I am not
then I do not even exist
I am not written word
because paper is constricting
This is so old it predates my poetry book. It is also not the original; if it can be believed this version is much more optimistic. In addition, I reordered/reorganized the phrases. I would like to continuously alter this piece so it reflects the changes within me.
