Haiku 2023–307

does my poetry

reflect who I am or who

I desire to be?

— -

…or both… or even neither?

If you were to read the 307 haiku I’ve written so far this year, could you paint a picture of who I am? Would I look into this mirror you hold up to me and see myself or something I barely recognize?

I’ve left intentional blanks in my narrative because… well… I have to. If you were forced to fill in those blanks, would the guesses be accurate or nowhere near the mark?

I’ve left plenty of clues that I’m in my fifties, but if I told you I was 6'3", 280 pounds, would that throw your mental picture of me completely off kilter? What if I said that my Spotify playlist leans heavily towards hard core punk and heavy metal, but that I also have a secret love of organ music? To say I’m socially awkward would be an understatement. Does that skew your image of me even more?

I’m ultimately writing this for consumption on the internet including social media. Am I presenting a curated version of myself to the world or am I laying out the unvarnished truth? Do I even know the answer to this question myself?

These are ultimately rhetorical questions, but I’d welcome discourse because I’m curious. I saw a picture on social media the other day of a meeting I attended. I knew that I was in the picture, but it only showed my back and the back of my head. The only way I knew I was in the picture is because I knew where I was sitting in the room. Even though I was plainly visible, I couldn’t recognize myself from that perspective…

I wonder if I could recognize myself from yours.