The Problem with the Problem

a kind of dark introspective poem

The problem with the problem

Is that it doesn't ever change

Which really isn't all that strange

Because neither, in fact, do I

I choose to still be "that guy"

The problem with the problem

Is that it's always been me

And I know it will always be

As no matter how much time goes by

The problem's problem remains "I"

Jim Lonsdale Poetry 2023 / 2025

Author's Note

Slight rewrite of a 2023 poem

Reviews

[Michael Sun Bear]

Roma wrote my review more elegantly than I would have so I’ll just say I agree!

[RomaJ]

This is a hauntingly honest reflection. I love how you distill such a complex, painful self-realization into concise, almost conversational lines. The repetition reinforces the inescapable nature of the insight..that the “problem” has always been within..and yet, there’s a quiet courage in naming it so plainly. It’s simple, yet profoundly introspective.

..Roma