“Who do people say I am?”

[PrinceMyshkin]

It is wrong and possibly even
criminal to fantasize about another
human being. Jesus the man
was robbed of his humanity
that could have meant so much to us
by being treated as a God.
“Who do people say I am?”
he asked, wondering,
perhaps, what role or roles
he was being called upon to play
other than his only,
precious mortal self.

So it is with love. We seize on the other
with our minds, we project on to him or her
what we need them to be, never mind
who they know themselves to be...
Or think they might be. For we are all
in process of becoming, and these others,
who believe they love us, because they need
to believe they love or will be loved,
these others distract us from our path...
We might cry out as Moses did
on behalf of the captive Israelites:
“Let my personhood go,”
but the would-be Pharaoh
has us in his thrall...

[Virgil]

Prince, that is a very good poem. I love the analogies, I love the phrasing, and it seems very profound. Top notch, my friend.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Prince, that is a very good poem. I love the analogies, I love the phrasing, and it seems very profound. Top notch, my friend.

Many thanks, Virge. I was afraid that it was a trifle prosey.

[ReynardKitsune]

it is awesome but i am sorry i am very weak at vocabulary so i don't understand it :p

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear Prince Myshkin,

The poem was very nice and the theme superb.Yes we do impose our needs on another often and destroy the 'other'.Others do it with us too giving us grief.

Here is one from me.
-------------------------
Who do people say I am?
A little self hidden in me,
Plays hide and seek,
Afraid to come in and wanting to go in.

Perhaps I am known to them?
But I know myself not.
Tearing this self bit by bit,
I stand nude with me inside out.

Mirror,mirror,Mirror on the wall,
Tell me who I am?The Beautiful?
Or the wicked?The witch or the vamp?
Or perhaps the sublime snowdrop?

Tell me everyone out there,
Watching me seek myself in the mire,
Of the destressed web,caught in the net,
Afraid ,yet bold to walk within myself.

[Pendragon]

As your question continues to be asked today, Jerry, might I suggest a subtitle of "Unanswered?"

[Granny5]

Jer, This is Great. Just wonderful. You've been on a roll lately and I'm glad for it. I love to read your work. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[PrinceMyshkin]

A wonderful bit of self-investigation! I especially liked:


Mirror,mirror,Mirror on the wall,
Tell me who I am?The Beautiful?
Or the wicked?The witch or the vamp?
Or perhaps the sublime snowdrop?

Just the right note of seriousness and light-hearted reference to the fairy-tale!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Jer, This is Great. Just wonderful. You've been on a roll lately and I'm glad for it. I love to read your work. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Many thanks to you - and to Pendragon. I'm working on another one which is a dialogue between two great spiritual figures. I love the concept but am nervous as to whether I can do it justice.

[symphony]

On the other hand, we ourselves want too often to be what people want/expect us to be...


Loved this one, Prince. It goes unanswered, as Pen mentioned, but it sure makes a good topic to write on. Controversies are almost always writer-friendly.
Good job.

[Cassandra1]

I sought for a woman
but found a girl
and within that girl
I found a child
but in that child
was the seed of a woman.

I like this, As a woman, I see it as a type of reverse emotional evolution...

[Countess]

Very profound, Prince. Leave me eating your dust in the "comprehensive philosophical/psychological" department. You've said so much in so few words. I love this poem because it speaks truth ( aside from your view of Jesus, which, as you know, is not mine.) This is among my favorites now.

[Elementz]

I may have wrote to you before praising one of your other poems, but this to inspires me to leave you a comment! Very beautiful poem and profound. I love a poem that inspires me to think, or allows me to expand my thoughts on it's subject. Excellent and one that will be kept in memory.