I. (A Current Work in Progress...)

I am me
I am we
You, me
Him and her
Them and us.
I am America
I am France
I am Chile
I am Mexico
I am Spain
I am Portugal
I am Ireland
I am the world.
My name is Guillermo
Green thumbed
Coaxing seedlings into flowering beauty
Gathering abundant fruit;
My name is Ramon
Drinking to numb it all
Dying, too young,
In the arms of my lover, my wife;
My name is Gaspar
Knowing a pain too deep to fathom
Holding it all in
Hiding it behind her good name;
My name is Petra
Shepherdess guiding
A flock
Passing borders
Passing deserts’
Choking sands
Diminutive yes,
Weak, no.
My name is Anastasia
Battered woman
Took back life
Holding my own as
Mother and wife.
My name is Jose.
Finding love
Gypsy wandering
Honorable man.
I am Catalina
An orphan
Sister lost
Long ago
Making a family of my own
My name is Regina
Sainted Doña
Prayerful
Dutiful
Saintly sinner
Human
Though I try not to be;
My name is Imelda
Martyr
Mother
Genuine heart
Giver of all
Carrying my cross
Alone.
My name is Alexander
Not great
Nor bad
Average
trying but failing
Keep on moving
Mistake maker
Still learning.
My name is Jesus.
Tired of picking onions
In Arizona’s dusty fields
Throwing down my burlap bag—
Disgusted and enraged
Enough is enough
I’ll never do this again.
I didn’t.
My name is Cheryl
Living in a black hole
Loving unconditionally
Reaching into hearts
Searching for the best within
You and you
And you--
slowly exchanging my life
For every piece of my heart
I gave away
Till one day
There was nothing left for me to give
And like that
I was gone.
My name is Silverio
Free falling
Spiraling when my world was shattered
Grasping for straws
Pulling students out of shells
With a puppet
Simple wisdom
And laughter’s mask
Leaving this world
Not for a while
But forever
Closing my eyes
And drifting away.
Simple as that.

I am humanity
At its best
and inhumanity’s
atrociousness
I am yin and yang
I am Sodom and Eden
I am living and dead

I am nameless,
Working three jobs
Paying a mortgage
Begging for food--
Atlas, carrying the world
And juggling three more,
To boot.

I am young
Away from home
For the first time
Scared of dying
Far braver than any
teen should have to be
sand in my shoe
sand in my eyes
sand in my mouth
sand in my ears
hoping for a happy ending
hoping for a better world
hoping to see mom and dad again.

I am rich
Livin’ it up for everyone to see
Driving around town in my suv
Drinking Dom and Cristal
In my manse--
Echoing nothing of import
Just my thoughts
And fears
Keeping me company.

I am homeless.
Living under a bridge
Or on a park bench
Mentally ill—maybe
Tired of life?
A Bum? No.
Perhaps I chose this life
And like the freedoms it brings
No chains binding me
Except the ones I make myself.

I am fertile
Bringing forth life
Everyday Miracle maker
I am barren
Dried up
Fruitless failure

I am ghosts of lives long lived
I am souls of lives not started
I am everywhere
I am nowhere
I am something
I am nothingness.
I am visions of apocalypse
Hell loosed on earth
I am visions of nirvana
Enlightenment attained
I am understood
But sometimes mistaken
I am compassion and mercy
I am brutality and injustice
I am selfish
I am altruism.
I am naïve
And resigned to my fate
I am no one you have met
And everyone you know
I am my enemy
I am your friend
I am history come to pass
I am the future flowing
Onward through eternity
I am everything.
I am.

I haven't been writing for a couple of days. A friend passed this on. All I can say is, "GENIUS!" I think I may have to start using this to help me write!

Write or Die: Dr. Wicked's Writing Lab