Former : Formed

I believed, back in my naivety,

that I could create a self.

Examine my foundation 

and select, piece by piece 

which bits to keep, which to let go. 

But time proves

that we don’t so much build our personhood 

as inherit it.

More osmosis than choice,

our identities sink into us.

Or they are sea glass, carved

by the waves of

our experience.

I remember the girl I thought I was and 

the adult I hoped to be. But circumstance

delivered a different woman.

I grieve who could have been, but 

will learn to love the shape I’ve taken.