The roles I play are the ones I believe
Creating in the process my outer identity
Which learns to dance and sing with the shadows
Transforming mere perception into reality

Childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age
Are the various scenes in this act
Which I learn to play reasonably well
Keeping the age old script intact

Am I really the genuine I
Playing out these diverse roles
Or is the real I lying hidden
Silently nesting in my soul

I need to cut the clutter of the apparent
And dive deep within my mind
To grasp the reality of my true self
Immanent, unchanging and sublime

Subir Chakraborty
29th August 2020