‘I’


The I that thinks
is an illusion
the I that wills
is not
the I that’s not to blame
because of childhood shame
is just a victim’s lot

When I’m in a movie
I forget the frame
when I’m in the world
there is no frame to see
I am my perspective
the self that is selective
the I that we call me

“I will come tomorrow”
“I will make you see”
“I will be courageous
full of bravery”
If I am failed by coward’s cry
is it enough to try
deny a will that’s free?

The world is all
that is the case
fact not value
is all we find
brains are what we see
but my brain is not me
consciousness is mind

The world is independent
of my will
I can will to act
but cannot will to will
I am angry I am sad
I am good I am bad
responsible for good or ill

Without my will
my body merely moves
but with it I can act
and must accept the blame
I can choose what to see
but cannot choose to be
ethics is action in my name

Just like my eye
in its visual field
my ‘I’ is the limit
not itself revealed
good and evil enter in
with my love or my sin
nothing more nor less will yield