Self Portrait

Yes, I really looked like that
all those years ago;
pensive, frowning, not-quite smile;
seeming in-the-know;
confidently, quietly worried;
comfortable and pace unhurried;
looking over lost horizons;
photographing me.

Yes, I really felt like that
and felt it deeply too;
sad, romantic, not-quite wild;
I wondered what to do.
At times in life caressed by care,
at times at peace and then in fear,
in ever changing constancy
trying to be me.

Yes, I guess, I thought like that
and thought the issues through;
confused and battered, not quite sure,
researching what was true;
ashamed of skills I seemed to lack
but always keeping to the track
that Fate has conjured lovingly
and set aside for me.

- by Prajna Pranab, photo 1977 - poem 1999