I AM ME, MYSELF I know who I am I am here now but I may be gone in an instant even if I am no longer here I am me, myself but in truth I do not have to be me I am a plant at least a little I may be a fish more or less I am also an ore with a dull sheen though I don’t know its name and of course I am almost you Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten I am a rhythm in a refrain I am a subtle wave and a particle having arrived, if I may be so conceited, riding on your heart’s beating rhythm from the light years of distance I know who I am so I know who you are even if I don’t know your name even if there is no census record I am crowding out into you Feeling happy being wet in rain feeling at home with the starry sky cackling at crude jokes I am me beyond the tautology of 'I am me'
Shuntaro Tanikawa From: Watashi (I Myself) From: The Art of Being Alone: Poems 1952–2009 Translation: 2011, Takako Lento
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