My True Name

Title from Tao te Ching, Ch. 1, lines 3–4, (characters 9–14, read right column top to bottom, then left column top to bottom). Image (& translation) by dbelgard

I have been called by many names.
Not one though — in so many lifetimes
I can’t remember —

has ever truly named me.

Coming in
to this world,
I remain

unborn.

Going forth
from this world,
I remain

undying.

Still— in the mirror of this moment—
in the reflections of sight and sound
and all the senses

that are forever

coming and going —
I give birth
to birth

and death.