James Moore Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

Can You See The Real Me?

(“Mind’s Eye Merit Badge”, 2020, original oil)

Can you see the real me? Can you? Can you?

If so you’re doing better than me
As I see only the effects, the ripples
And detritus that hangs up along the edges.

The real me, or should I say the mind I call me,
Is nothing if not a vortex 
whirlpooling down and out of sight
Sucking in everything it possibly can
Conscious, unconscious, it matters not. 

I can hear the sucking sound, ringing in my ears,
And roaring out when I open my lips,
But I can’t see where it all goes.

All I can see is the flotsam 
Spinning on the way down
And the jetsam, backed up, held up 
Momentarily along the way.

But eventually as sure as day follows dawn,
And yet as right as rain,
It all goes down the open drain of our core
Leaving us about the same as we’ve always been.

Feeling like a fool
Trying to catch a glimpse
Listening to that sucking sound
Wondering where it’s all heading
Down, down, ever flowing down.

(9/30/25)

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