Dear friends,

This poem is a tribute to the sense of self – the self that, although we’d like to solidify as something tangible and concrete, is fleeting and transformative. The self is resilient, just as hard as a rock and, in contradiction, is malleable to whatever we seek it to be.

Life generates situations and circumstances that we’re born into and in the early years, creates a story, a narrative, in which we live and anchor the sense of self within this world. Yet, life is not linear and what it brings forth in terms of obstacles and challenges puts us off balance. However, the phenomenal aspect of the self is that it’s a multitude of voices and selves within us, allowing us to experience life. We can constantly rebuild ourselves as we reinvent ourselves from our falls.

Whether we reinvent our persona or identity after a divorce, make a drastic career change or break away from a bad habit, it doesn’t disconnect us from who we once were. It’s more of evolution and a journey. And through this journey, we are people whose past, present and future are what are the best representation of who we are. Enjoy!

Whole

My life’s purpose is to find myself whole
Which self? Echoes inside my head

Every self I ever was, am and will be
For every daffodil was once a seed

Sprouted and with the wind freed
Now reborn for a new story to read

With love,

Alia

Alia AlShamsi is an Emirati-Italian former photojournalist and university adjunct faculty. She  published her first book Alayah with a publishing grant from Dubai Culture and Art Authority, and a second book Night/Day, which is one of the first three Silent Books published in the country, an initiative launched by UAE Board on Books for Young People. She has since moved into poetry and continues to write in both English and Arabic. Follow Alia @AliaAlShamsi.

Illustration by Alia Al Shamsi