Who You Are

Might the many experiences not understood

be paramount to who you are?

Was the stare of strangers on the sidewalks studying you,

an all seeing illuminati-haunting as you tried to distance yourself?

Were the night visits,

the glower of the “Hotel” neon,

its “cheap rooms” a hard glare of reality?

Was the scent of ubiquitous Sabrett hot dogs

drifting up from the sidewalk-cart

maddening your hunger for a surreal ride

with Pink Floyd’s “Pigs on the Wing?”

Did you find it impossible to understand anything then?

Why did you relish the crowded rush-hour subway

where you peered from seat to hanging leather hand-slings,

seeking that person you believed you were meant to find,

always realizing they weren’t there?

Was your mistake in crossing the street,

pursuing the skirt in high heels with flame-red hair,

seemingly on fire just for you?

What didn’t you understand after such navigational errors?

Might you be who you are today

because of unanswered questions of the past,

that left you aware that your future life is but more multi-layered questions,

tripping through the tomorrows and morphing into more queries

that continually remind you of who you…

might still become?