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| Joseph Benwell Clark, Self Portrait |
Heraclitus on Rivers
Nobody steps into the same river twice.
The same river is never the same
Because that is the nature of water.
Similarly your changing metabolism
Means that you are no longer you.
The cells die, and the precise
Configuration of the heavenly bodies
When she told you she loved you
Will not come again in this lifetime.
You will tell me that you have executed
A monument more lasting than bronze;
But even bronze is perishable.
Your best poem, you know the one I mean,
The very language in which the poem
Was written, and the idea of language,
All these things will pass away in time.
Derek Mahon
"You are no longer you." This poem poses one of the profound questions of life. What makes us who we are? And if we are constantly changing within our cells and metabolism, and our language and ideas and relationships are changing too - how can we know who we are? What statement can we possibly make that will continue to be true throughout time? And what remains when everything has changed? I can't think of many deeper questions than these. The poem is a breath of fresh air to me, as if Mahon opened a window in a dead-air room and let in the wind. Finally, someone not pretending to be okay, someone not in thrall to the illusion of "knowing oneself".
"You are no longer you." This poem poses one of the profound questions of life. What makes us who we are? And if we are constantly changing within our cells and metabolism, and our language and ideas and relationships are changing too - how can we know who we are? What statement can we possibly make that will continue to be true throughout time? And what remains when everything has changed? I can't think of many deeper questions than these. The poem is a breath of fresh air to me, as if Mahon opened a window in a dead-air room and let in the wind. Finally, someone not pretending to be okay, someone not in thrall to the illusion of "knowing oneself".
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