A question as ancient as time.
But also, a pointless interrogation in my humble view.
Who are you?
The smiling one with the light in your eyes? Daughter. Son. Forgotten friend? Wife. Husband. Mother. Father. The confused one. Ambitious. Torn. Divorced. In love. Alone?
Life has many habits; it’s designed to surprise, delight, alarm and cheat on you. A myriad. Still. The question begs – on hands and knees it seems.
Who are you? Does the answer catch in your throat?
Maybe it’s more comforting to believe something else entirely… Life may not want you to
know. Ever. Because the answer’s a changing, shifting thing.
You.
Always evolving, morphing from one phase to the next. In silence. Uninterrupted by
introspection. Undisturbed by the external?
Your brain is electrified with change, daily. Cells in your body die and reimagine themselves back into being.
Who are you?
Relax. Ignore society’s urges to ‘find yourself’. To settle on your favourite dessert. Test your sexuality. Decide what you enjoy listening to, watching, reading. To quickly land on the definitives and be that, just that, love that for always.
Pause. The. Pressure. Please?
Maybe only some things should be discovered and kept in metaphorical amber forever.
But you, my friend, are not. Far from a fossil (!). Can’t be sealed with a kiss. For all time.
Maybe you’re like mercury. Amorphous. Dangerous to the touch if you try and force you into shape. Or reach a once-and-for-all understanding of who you are.
Then again, maybe not.
© Phyllis Foundis 2026