Saturday, February 21, 2009

Who am I?

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'Alone'


I found this poem the other day when I was looking through old papers - I don't remember when I wrote it.



Who am I when I'm alone,

when I am not being a daughter,

doing as her mother taught her -

who am I when I'm alone?



Who am I when I'm alone,

when my brother needs no keeping,

and our rivalry is sleeping -

who am I when I'm alone?



Who am I when I'm alone,

when I have no lord and master,

husband, consort, mate or partner -

who am I when I'm alone?



Who am I when I'm alone,

when I'm not my children's mother,

quick to succour, not to smother -

who am I when I'm alone?



Who am I when I'm alone,

when my roles have all been taken:

tiny fragment left forsaken -

who am I when I'm alone?



Who am I when I'm alone,

do I know this someone other,

do I like her, even love her -

can I live with her alone?



[The fractal image entitled 'Alone' was created by Sven Geier. You can see many more on his website. He generously makes them freely available to everybody, for which I thank him.]
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3 comments:

Avus said...

I like it very much indeed, Judith. Shame you cannot remember when or why you wrote it.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

It's lovely. With your permission, I'd like to link to it.

Lee said...

Very thoughtful, thought provoking.