I am not me

A free verse poem

Photo by Adora Goodenough on Unsplash

I am not me
Rather, a short walk to the edge of a pond
overhung with drooping branches of willows
A reflection in the still water of a hot summer day
A face looks up from the water
Transformed by the inquisition of nature
I look back

There is no certitude
but the certainty of death
No rectitude
but the righteousness of truth
No animal instinct that justifies
our howling torments, our prejudice, our self-inflicted pain
No natural law
but the law that guides me to this pond
and makes the sunlight reproduce my face
in the still water