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Edward Clapham | + Follow Poet |
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Me, Inside and Out

Me, inside and out

First Stanza
There’s a me on the inside and a me on the outside;
And inside me most often ignores outside me,
With all sorts of consequences.

Outside me is myself as others see me; and, oh my, 
What I would give to have their eyes, and marvel 
And despair at all my foolish notions.

Inside me is myself that I alone see; with eyes 
That are generous and forgiving, and unguided
By thoughtful judgment of right or wrong.

Inside, outside, what do I see of me that I 
Can convey to you: a fool going on 16 on the inside,
Wiser, but still foolish, on the out.

Second Stanza
There’s a me on the outside, an individual me,
And rather more on the inside – multiplication 
Of me, each its own character, and yet
All adding up to the one that you see.

And some inside are wise and some a little
Foolish, although that’s a judgment of one
Of another; which is really rather silly, don’t 
You agree, if all are really the one, and only, me.

So when I speak, in another verse, of foolish
Notions inside of me, my age and wisdom
Powerless to check, the foolishness is yet that 
Only one of me, is irrationally judging all of me.

But there is no foolishness in what we hope for,
In you or me, for then fools we are for 
Thinking things cannot be when, patently, they 
Can and are in others who feel more free than we.

Copyright © Edward Clapham | Year Posted 2015

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