I am me, myself

--Shuntaro Tanikawa

I know who I am

I am here now

but I may be gone in an instant

even if I am no longer here I am me, myself

but in truth I do not have to be me

I am a plant at least a little

I may be a fish more or less

I am also an ore with a dull sheen

though I don’t know its name

and of course I am almost you

Because I cannot disappear after being forgotten

I am a rhythm in a refrain

I am a subtle wave and a particle 

having arrived, if I may be so conceited,

riding on your heart’s beating rhythm

from the light years of distance

I know who I am

so I know who you are

even if I don’t know your name

even if there is no census record

I am crowding out into you

Feeling happy being wet in rain

feeling at home with the starry sky

cackling at crude jokes

I am me

beyond the tautology of “I am me”