“BE ME” – Poem

I cannot be you.
I can only be me.
Hundreds of versions feeling close.
None of them you.
All of them me.

I cannot paint like you.
I can only draw lines like me.
If I pick colours tomorrow,
it will be the shades I know.
Not the blots and patches like you.
Repeated lines on a white paper, like me.

I cannot sing like you.
I can only hum in the solace like me.
If I pick some strings along,
it will be the one that fits my hand.
Not the jumbo acoustic like you.
Small plastic threads on the wood, like me.

I cannot write like you.
I can only scribble unspoken, like me.
If I filled pages with ink,
it will be about the lives that touched me.
Not a literary marvel like you.
A confused piece of subconsciousness, like me.

I cannot live like you.
I can only live like me.
If I cease to exist this very moment,
I’ll happily be the ashes in the river,
dust in the wind, nourishment for a tree.
Not a thousand things left unsaid like you.
But wearing my heart on the sleeve, like me.

I cannot be you.
I can only be me.
Hundreds of versions feeling close.

None of them you.
All of them me.