Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae, Identity

Contributor Series 5: Dramatis Personae
Identity
By Chris G Vaillancourt
I have been 
my father's son;
my mother's son;
my grandparents' grandson;
my sister's brother;
my wife's husband;
my children's father.

I have been a child;
a student;
a poet;
an artist;
a teacher;
a parent;
a labourer;
an employee;
a social insurance number.

Now I am wondering where I am?
What is "me"?

I seem awash in
various labels,
a variety of tags
that have been 
attached to me.
Each is a role to play
that supposedly defines
what I am

Sometimes I want to disrupt
every
identity I am 
compelled to play.

Upset the apple cart.

Open my wallet
and
spill out every 
piece of paper that
identifies me.

If I throw away my
birth certificate;
does it mean
I have never been born?

If I burn my
Social Insurance Card;
does it mean
I have ceased to exist?

Who am I?
How do I belong in this
mist of roles and perceptions?

I'm not sure anymore
I really know
who I am supposed to be.
Does this mean that I 
am nothing?
Nothing, without a
label to purify me?


Chris G Vaillancourt's poetry appeared at vox poetica in 2009 and 2010. His most recent poem, Wasting Words Before I Go to Sleep, appeared in March 2010. 

Posted by Annmarie at 5/29/2010 11:21 PM
Categories: today's words, Contributor Series 5
Tags: roles identity Chris G Vaillancourt labels
 

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