'I'

I am happy – and sad
sometimes good
and yes, sometimes bad
 
I am who I am
but have a duty
to he who I might be
I am tethered – yet free
I am me
 
I am loved – and love
know unrest – but am still blessed
 
I am curious – and perplexed
troubled, and at peace
my sanity makes me mad
and my madness makes me sane


I am father – and son
husband, lover, friend
endless possibilities
and yet all are one
 
I am blood, tissue, cell
body and brain
but consciousness as well
Somewhere in the hinterland
of synapse, nerve and cause
the person, the self – the ‘I’
thinks and feels, plans and acts - wills
bound but not determined
by careless Nature’s Laws

I am a million inchoate fragments
of feeling, sense and hope
ordered on memory’s fragile thread
contradictions side by side
resigned by Human Nature
to forget destination
and perhaps deserve the ride
 
I am sacred – and profane
driven by desire and will
terrified by freedom
and the duty to fulfil
to become all I can be
No one can lift the burden or the thrill
of a shared humanity
no prophets, Gods or masters
through obedience reward or fear
excuse my deeds but me
Rebellion not quiescence
dissent not conformity
pave the road the ‘I’ must travel
to reach its destiny