Who Am I?

A Poem, By Joy Aletheia Stevens

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Who am I? Do you know? Can anyone see?
I’m wife, I’m mother, but who is me?
Do I know anymore? What’s inside of me?
Where are the parts of me that used to be?

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Where’s the poet and dreamer?
Who found words in stars?
Where is the musician and singer?
Who could see so far?

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I love my life now, I love my family.
But where is the me that I used to be?
I don’t know who I am separate from these:
I’m mother, I’m wife, but who is me?

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I can’t say what I’ve lost,
But I know I have gained.
And it was worth the cost.
But still, I’m ashamed.

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Who am I? Where am I?
What was it I lost?
Was it between the earth and the sky?
And the battles I’ve fought?

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Is it some damage to soul,
In some battle hard won,
That seems to have stole
Vital parts, and its stung.

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Was it some busyness of life?
The distractions of days,
And the weariness or strife,
That came in so many ways?

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And where do I go now?
And what do I do?
Do I give up with a bow?
Or find a way through?

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I am Mother, I am Wife.
But there is so much more to me.
And I could drink so deeply of life.
At least this used to be.

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My roles did not rob,
Or steal me away.
Still I find, with a sob,
That parts of me are in decay.

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I am Wife, I am Mother.
But this is not me!
I am a God Lover,
HIS child, and free.

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God help me to find myself again,
Mayhaps inside your arms.
Let myself shine again,
As I gaze on Your charms.

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Lord help me see me
Beyond the me others need.
Help me to be.
Help me be free.

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I love being a mother. Yet sometimes one can almost lose oneself in our roles of life. I wrote this poem a few weeks ago and share it here because I feel there are probably many other moms out there who have shared these moments of identity crisis. You are not alone in this feeling, and you need not feel bad about feeling this way. You ARE more than “Mom.”

~Joy Aletheia Stevens

Photo Credit: Mother kissing her baby by Larisa Okhtienko (CC BY-SA 2.0)