Not as You Imagined

Lane Dorsey

My life,

my thoughts

are clouds crossing

the sky of consciousness.

Who am I?

Am I my thoughts,

my emotions,

my name,

my hunger to be seen?

The world teaches me

to add to myself.

I become a storehouse of things:

a title here,

a skill there,

another possession,

more riches,

more praise.

Yet, who am I?

I labor, I gain, I lose;

still I ask—

is it enough?

am I enough?

O my soul,

never let me go,

whispers the small self,

afraid to disappear.

Was joy in yesterday?

Shall I chase tomorrow?

What will they say?

What mask do I prepare

to meet the world?

Then, from the silence,

a voice said:

what you seek

lies behind the noise.

But still I cry,

I am special,

I am meaning,

I am the world—

until the sky answers:

yes,

but not as you imagined.

Omniverse Traveler