Constructing the Self-Portrait

The fractured self
And I on the banks of
That river,
We stop
Counting stones
And look
Under the shadow
Of the long willow,
Long shadow,
The grass a green pad
Except in the shadow
It’s spare.
We look
At each other,
Each time another vision:
First
A dance
To catch the shadow,
Take it in.
We fail,
It eludes us.
Next
Ankle deep in the water,
The rushing water,
The light reflects
Like a picture where
We do not look like ourselves
And we relish,
Knowing it false
And try to recapture
To no avail.
When the others come,
Will they see the struggle on the bank,
The posing
Or the stretching?
On the last look
We make a
Blood oath:
The I is the fire,
The force, the
Desperation,
The I is the
Elusive whole
Less our reflection,
More
The empty hands
Pulling shadow
Toward the heart,
The ill fitted limbs
That sway
Without grace,
That cannot catch,
The lips
That fail to name.

C. Bronco