I Am a Residue of Life

"I'm a multiplier of the breeze and the sunsets which have moved through me, I'm a quiver of hurts I can ruthlessly give. I'm withdrawn without reason, I can be generous without a reason too."   Anyone's identity is rarely singular - it's a bunch of elements, and mostly, a bunch of contradictions. There is never a case of knowing oneself, but only of accepting oneself. But accepting oneself is a phenomenon. Within its largeness lies the acceptance of others also, as they are. Messy, volcanic, turbulent -whatever everyone is, to accept each as manifestations of the universe, representation of life itself, each one a part of a whole, who we can puzzle over for a lifetime, or simply enjoy as they are.    But more than anything else, each person in our life completes us, with their peculiarities and quiddities. Each one, however small and short their presence in our lives, is a part of the jigsaw puzzle that we are. We can never be complete on our own, we can never discover who we are, alone.   We are a community, we work with others, for a reason. We are thrown together with all kinds of  people, with a purpose. To know what is despicable and not go on that road, or to find a mirror in someone else, recognize ourselves for what we never knew ourselves to be, and know the truth of ourselves.   And to learn to be gentle with ourselves, within the trauma of revelations. We then, finally, fall in love with ourselves.    If you liked this poem, consider listening to these other poems which talk of self-determination -  Searching for Coffee in Jaipur  Hope is Merely Fear with a Poor Choice of Lipstick The Power of No Find other magical things, like a lovely free chapbook of poems, and other resources here.   Uncut Poetry has started a new Podcast called Red River Sessions (on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, etc), where we will talk to published poets, about their poetry, their craft and what haunts them. It is brought to you by Red River, which is the premier independent publisher of poetry books, and Uncut Poetry.    I am Sunil Bhandari.   I am a poet based out of India. My book of poetry 'Of Love and Other Abandonments' was an Amazon bestseller. My second book is 'Of Journeys & Other Ways to Get Lost'. Both are available on Amazon. Follow me on Instagram at @sunilgivesup. Get in touch with me on [email protected]   The details of the music used in this episode are as follows - 1000 Lichter by Sascha Ende® Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/3161-1000-lichter License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license   5 vor 12 by Sascha Ende® Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/2973-5-vor-12 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license