Always the self!
said Roland Barthes.
But we’ve already established, the self is an elf.
It can’t be helped—
when I do the math,
I find I’m still myself,
but I so wish I could be
someone else—
or No-Self, like Odysseus.
But we’ve already established, the self is an elf—
a pesky spirit in any case,
a cricket on the hearth.
Always myself—
it will make you laugh
when you see the lengths
I’ll go to to identify with my elf.
It’s because I feel safe
knowing my elf is in charge,
not myself.
Roland Barthes had a most engaging elf!
