Who have I been in the past 30 years?

(a woman’s contemplation on her 30th B’day)

I guess I have been a traveler
Traveling roads with junctions and corners
Choosing new roads at every junction
Founding surprises at every corner

I guess I have been a witness
Witnessing events so pleasing others disturbing
Biting my tongue when I felt I should’ve shouted
Singing my voice to be heard others ignored

I guess I have been a discoverer
Discovering new feelings and responses
Swallowing feelings I never knew I could feel
Spiting responses I never knew I could make

I guess I have been a player
Giving and receiving with and without awareness
Teaching and learning with and without syllabus
Laughing and crying with and without scripts

I guess I have been an actor
Playing the scripts that I wrote and that others wrote
Playing scripts that were never written
Rewriting scripts along the play

I guess I have been an artist
Drawing my breaths of joy and happiness
Singing my pains and others with my tongue
Painting my life and others with my hands

Most importantly, I have been somebody
Somebody who does something to somebody
Somebody who is somebody to somebody
And I was never a nobody

15 Mar 2005