I Am

On the last day of this year’s writing retreat, we were given a prompt to write a “boast poem”. A poem beginning with the words “I Am” and full of bold, boastful things about ourselves. Turns out I’m not very good at that, but I like the poem that came of it, anyway. I took the sleeping-butterfly photo during a rain forest night-hike.

I’ve feasted on words
inhaled rhythms
danced with brain and body
since the womb

I’ve become everything I denied
done everything I resisted
grown into myself
despite myself

I’ve been smart and I’ve been stupid
usually both at once
sometimes just one
followed always by the other

I’ve surprised myself, harmed
myself, impressed myself
questioned myself
trusted too many others

I’m growing careless, growing strong
moving into, flowing out of
shedding, softening, changing
becoming something new
and more the same