WHO I'VE BEEN

WHO I’VE BEEN. (A JOURNEY OF SELF)

I have walked through rooms

That no one remembers,

Carrying my own baggage

Small triumphs, bruised hopes,

The books I never finished,

The words I swallowed

Because they weren’t ready

To be spoken allowed.

I have stumbled across crossroads,

Not always knowing which way to turn

Sometimes choosing the wrong path,

Sometimes standing still

Until the world nudged me forward.

Even in mistakes

I glimpsed fragments of truth

That lingered like soft light

Between the trees.

I have laughed alone

At private jokes no one else would hear

Cried in the dark

For reasons I could barely name

And learned the peculiar comfort

Of carrying a self

That is both fragile and unbreakable.

I have been all these things

The wanderer, the quiet observer,

The hopeful fool, the cautious dreamer

And even when I didn’t know it

I was gathering the pieces

Of the person I am now

And the person I will still become.

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

That’s quite a journey you’ve been on Pauline. Every step taken has helped you become the lovely you are today. A journey with plenty of obstacles on the path to overcome. Give yourself a pat on the back and you still have miles ahead. So good to read you old friend.

Chris