Published September 15th, 2024
by Mia Hinds
I know who I am
I want to know who I am
It is something I have yearned for a long time,
I do not know who I am
I looked for it in my actions, in my decisions
I could not find it
I looked everywhere
In how I love, my words, my friends
Dragging my barely made simplified identity out from under rubble and flames
Burning, scratched, still raw from the heat
I do not know who I am
What are you made of?
How much could you take?
As if I had to ruin myself, break down the fibers that held together my existence
To find the thing that kept me alive
I could not find it
A pounding heart that weighs more with each breath –
How much could you take?
At the end, I found only a wavy reflection in unclean water, distorted
Maybe that's what she felt, suffocated within a bell jar of opinions
I never thought you were crazy,
I think, as the last fig falls, rotting by my feet
About the Poet
Mia Hinds resides in Pismo Beach, California, United States.
Read the poet's biography on Mia Hinds's Artist Page.
This poem is included in Poetry World #10, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.
Previously published in San Francisco Poetry Magazine:
Come Home
by Elyse Puertas
San Francisco Poetry Magazine is part of the Wax Poetry and Art Network.
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