Juan Ramon Jimenez

 

I Am Not I

I am not I.
I am the one
who walks beside me, invisible,
whom at times I call upon,
whom at times I forget,
the one who is silent and calm when I speak,
the one who forgives, with sweetness, when I hate,
the one who goes walking wherever I am not,
the one who still stands when I lay down to die.

Translated from Spanish by Paul Weinfield, © 2017

Photo by Duane Michals