SKYE stephenson

I

I wanted to be other than I

I wanted to be
you
and it
and they

Anything but I
What a terrible I am I!

I wanted to be other than I

I wanted to be
a rainbow
a leaf
aquiet doe nuzzling in the dark

I wanted to be other than I,
anything else but that:
Be a hat
a bat
a ball
the surf
a gentle blade of grass,

anything but I.
Still I am,
as still as ever an I can be.

And in that infinite quietude
that surrounds my brittle shell

I mourn
I mourn
I weep and mourn

for all those Is whom I have yet to know

From:  Ebbo: Offering (Carnelian Press, 2010)