I think, therefore I am, said Descartes

I think, am I?

The thoughts of others can be defining:

She loves, therefore she is Mommy

She is with me, therefore she is Wife

She eats, therefore she is fat; her chrome doesn’t shine, therefore she is lazy; she won’t buy a lamp, therefore she is obstinate

I think again: am I?

Am I anything more than how others see me?

What am I when I am alone, aside from tired?

I think: I hurt, therefore I am sick

I do, therefore I am better

And a billboard shouts: I do, therefore I am

Am I reduced to being a task?

Laundry folder, sink cleaner, power shopper, food chopper

Quote getter, story writer, quote getter, bill payer, dinner maker

I think: If I leave no lasting mark on the world in my name, will I have been?

It’s like the tree in the unpeopled forest: I wonder if, upon falling

My call will be heard,

Or if my calling goes unobserved, Was I?

If I am the mommy, the wife, the daughter, is that enough?

I am the nurturer, therefore I cook, cuddle and kiss

I am the partner, therefore I try, I bend, I try again

I think: I am not you, therefore I am me

And the me of today is not the I of another week or a month or a year

But I am