The Other Me

(I wrote this poem many months back but just recently found it in some old files. Enjoy!)

The Other Me

Sitting with my head on my hands,

Dreaming of far and distant lands,

Ears open yet hearing barely,

Eyes unblinking and staring blankly,

Body not willing to obey commands.

Wanting nothing really,

Not happy and yet not angry,

As if waiting for novel action,

Or else perhaps a mere distraction,

A state of mind to which I wander daily.

When suddenly occurred a collision,

Between heart and mind a great division,

I was someone else for a split second,

And the strangeness of it did beckon,

Thus I was thrust into a great vision.

The girl beside me appeared to be ruined,

So disheveled, so disheartened,

Her eyes told a story of pain and sorrow,

As if she wished it were tomorrow,

But the unknown rendered her dreadfully frightened.

Then the likeness alighted on me like a sparrow,

Sending shock unto my very marrow,

Was not that girl how last I looked?

Were she not I else I mistook?

The knowledge weighed like a lead-filled barrel.

Was this how people upon me looked?

This dreadful sign too long I forsook,

All the time while wishing to be quiet,

I gave the impression of being overly private,

Repelling them faster than gaining them took.

Did I really appear so disconsolate?

When really I wished only to not upset?

I didn’t have a hard enough life I think,

As to into such a depression sink,

What would have happened if myself I hadn’t met?

Better now than later to regret,

This vision I saw I will not forget,

I will change the way I act and speak,

I will happy and joyful and not so meek,

And a better picture allow them to get.

I’m not and will not be,

That sad little girl my eyes did see,

Sitting beside the other me,

Taught me a lesson did she,

And I am far so far from laughing in glee.

I snapped out of the trance,

Buttoned up my shirt and straightened my pants,

Then at last I knew what I must do,

A firm conclusion then I drew,

I would live if only to laugh and smile and help others all the while.

No more would I sit with my head in my hands,

My mind wandering off to distant lands,

My eyes not seeing and ears closed,

But opened wide for new ideas disclosed,

And learn I would and teach and pray and have many better future plans.