Song of Myself
A prelude to my retrospections on 2005, the biggest year for me so far. I wrote this for the Junior Seminar final project in 2004, and found it recently, and was pleased. Usually I don't like my past writings very much, but this one still speaks to me. And some parts of it are meant to be silly, so... smile?
Song of Myself
Myself myself my self.
The person I see the least of for the amount of time I’m around him.
I’ve never seen my face,
Except in a mirror.
But what you see in a mirror isn’t reality.
It’s hard to hear my voice, too.
Hearing it from inside my head is different than hearing it from outside.
I’ve heard my voice on a recording,
A crackly, tinny recording.
But what you hear in a recording isn’t reality either.
So how can I be intimately familiar with someone I haven’t really
Seen or
Heard?
To me, my self only exists in my mind.
Because that is where it’s most real.
I exist only in my imagination.
I exist only in my imagination.
My imagination, my domain.
My kingdom, my world.
My realm of complete control.
My self is whatever I decide he is.
My self is whomever I make him.
No more.
No less.
How precisely the ground manages to catch a falling apple,
Right where the ground and the apple meet.
The ground never catches the apple
Too soon or
Too late.
But catches it right where it should.
Exactly.
The ground can do naught but catch the apple right there,
Because that’s where it catches the apple.
So can I do naught but make my self whom I make him,
Because I make him whomever he is.
See?
It’s beautiful.
So I look forward,
Always forward
Into the bright future where my dreams have come true
Someday I’ll get there
Quite soon, actually.
It’s almost as close as tomorrow
But I’ll only get to tomorrow if I walk today
Life isn’t a sleek metal train that takes you into the future
It’s a rugged, wild trail for me to hike
While I fend off the wolves of the world
And swat at the mosquitoes of insecurity
And hide from the thunderstorms of crisis
And struggle against the diseases of human nature
But also appreciate the dappled sunlight of contentment
And feel the cool rain of good friends
And wonder at the starry sky of romance
And sigh at the triumphant sunrise of new life
So I will set off
Soon I will be on my own
Climbing life, scaling the world
With only my God to guide me
And carry me when I can’t carry myself
I will get there, I will get to the future
Where I belong
Someday I’ll be a hero
I’ll get my chance to save the day
And defeat the odds
Then
Someday it’ll be my turn to ride into the sunset
And at that point I want to be able to turn around
And look at the vast expanse I’ve explored and discovered
And say,
“Wow.”
And disappear to the North.
Song of Myself
Myself myself my self.
The person I see the least of for the amount of time I’m around him.
I’ve never seen my face,
Except in a mirror.
But what you see in a mirror isn’t reality.
It’s hard to hear my voice, too.
Hearing it from inside my head is different than hearing it from outside.
I’ve heard my voice on a recording,
A crackly, tinny recording.
But what you hear in a recording isn’t reality either.
So how can I be intimately familiar with someone I haven’t really
Seen or
Heard?
To me, my self only exists in my mind.
Because that is where it’s most real.
I exist only in my imagination.
I exist only in my imagination.
My imagination, my domain.
My kingdom, my world.
My realm of complete control.
My self is whatever I decide he is.
My self is whomever I make him.
No more.
No less.
How precisely the ground manages to catch a falling apple,
Right where the ground and the apple meet.
The ground never catches the apple
Too soon or
Too late.
But catches it right where it should.
Exactly.
The ground can do naught but catch the apple right there,
Because that’s where it catches the apple.
So can I do naught but make my self whom I make him,
Because I make him whomever he is.
See?
It’s beautiful.
So I look forward,
Always forward
Into the bright future where my dreams have come true
Someday I’ll get there
Quite soon, actually.
It’s almost as close as tomorrow
But I’ll only get to tomorrow if I walk today
Life isn’t a sleek metal train that takes you into the future
It’s a rugged, wild trail for me to hike
While I fend off the wolves of the world
And swat at the mosquitoes of insecurity
And hide from the thunderstorms of crisis
And struggle against the diseases of human nature
But also appreciate the dappled sunlight of contentment
And feel the cool rain of good friends
And wonder at the starry sky of romance
And sigh at the triumphant sunrise of new life
So I will set off
Soon I will be on my own
Climbing life, scaling the world
With only my God to guide me
And carry me when I can’t carry myself
I will get there, I will get to the future
Where I belong
Someday I’ll be a hero
I’ll get my chance to save the day
And defeat the odds
Then
Someday it’ll be my turn to ride into the sunset
And at that point I want to be able to turn around
And look at the vast expanse I’ve explored and discovered
And say,
“Wow.”
And disappear to the North.