The "I Am" Poem

Fill in the blanks to create a special poem that describes who you are.

Each of us is a person becoming someone new. We are not what we were yesterday or the day before. We are not who we will be tomorrow or the day after. But between the past and the future is now. And now is who we are—the "I am" we can declare ourselves to be right now.

"But just who am I?," you ask. "How can I describe myself? I experience the world and my place in it through all of my senses. I see, hear, feel, touch, smell, and taste something every day. I have hope and desires, worries and certainties. How can I put all that together and say 'I am this' or 'I am that?' "

Elsewhere in Support4Change we give you articles that can help you discover who you are and how you can become the best you can be. In this special feature, however, poetry you create (with the help of simple instructions) allows you to experience yourself in a most unique way.

The format for this special poem was created by Alysa Cummings, who was the inspiration for several of our fill-in-the-blank poems. Below is her sample of the "I Am" poem. It was written when she was in the process of having reconstructive surgery after breast cancer. When you read this, you may be impressed with the talent of someone who can write so creatively. However, even though Alysa is, indeed, a talented person, this poem was written by using a very simple fill-in-the-blanks form, which you, too, can easily use. We'll tell you how at the bottom of the page..

Surgery Number Six

I am almost a reconstructed woman

I wonder, am I just a chest half-baked?

I hear the clink of surgical tools

I see eyes over masks, the green gowns, the bright light overhead

I want to see the light at the end of the tunnel already

I am almost a reconstructed woman

I pretend I'm a supermodel getting a tune-up, but

I feel far from the physical ideal

I touch a make believe mound I cannot feel

I worry what my hug feels like

I ask myself is this all worth it?

I am almost a reconstructed woman

I understand cosmesis is Latin for optical illusion, but

I believe I am fooling no one, and today why do

I dream of wonderbra symmetry?

I trust in the skill of my doctor's hands, still

I hope he had a hot breakfast

I am almost a reconstructed woman

© 2002, Revised 2006 Alysa Cummings

SET YOUR GOALS BY STARTING FROM WHERE YOU ARE TODAY

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