barking dogs

Photo by wu yi on Unsplash

a hundred million years have passed

i still don’t recognize myself
but I see

i am young
i am old
i am restless

impertinent
stupid
brilliant

are you shaped by other people’s beliefs?

or by the people you love
and hate

do you haphazardly will yourself into being?

is who you are
created as you tumble
fail
win
lose?

who are you really?
will we ever know?
should we know?

shaped by the morning sun
molded by the afternoon rain

withered by the winds of
passion
lust
apathy

can you swim free again?
were you ever free?

does it matter who you are today
tomorrow or yesterday?

i am not the sum of my parts
or a part
or part of a sum of my parts

each day i reform
then i reform
until i am formed

that day
it starts again
undulations of me
the sea of me
you
us