Therefore

if I cannot see my face

as the world sees it

how am I myself and not

a product of the world

I feel the rain on my skin

the icy cold of snowfall

the heat of the sun burning

but was I told to be cold

instructed by my mother’s yelp

to cry at my burns

I think therefore I am

but are these thoughts all mine

are they not drawn from others

from the world around me

are my thoughts not a product of the world

what is truer the sounds of cars

of wind in the trees shouts crashes

music of the earth of the lofty spheres

or is it the constant chatter

of a mind always abuzz with remembering

all the world brings out

what in all the spheres and bodies

am I

~~~~~~~

©Abigail Siegel, 2020