I first came across this 25 years ago and I think it says so much about the human condition:
(and as I'm rubbish at cutting and pasting, I have to type it all out!)
Of so many men that I am, that we are,
I can't find a single one:
I lose them under my clothing,
they've moved to another town.
When everything seems to be set
to show off my erudition,
the fool I always keep hidden
takes over all that I say.
I am paralysed and silenced
among those who are distinguished
and when I seek the fearless within me
a coward I do not know
rushes to cover my skeleton
with a thousand fine precautions.
When a home I care for burns
I call forth the firefighter
but the arsonist breaks through
and he is I. There is no fixing me.
What must I do to select me?
How can I become myself?
All the books I read
celebrate dazzling heroes
always certain of themselves:
how I envy them.
In cowboy films
I am jealous of the cowboy,
and even admire the horse
But when I seek the daredevil
I find the lazy old man,
and so I do not know who I am,
or how many I am or we are.
I would like to ring a bell
and summon the real me
because if I need myself
I should not be disappearing.
While I write I am absent
and when I return I've gone:
One day I will see if these things
happen to other people,
if they are as many as I am,
if they resemble themselves,
and when I find out
I will know all things so well
that to explain all my problems
I will speak about geography
Pablo Neruda
translated by F. Pajares
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