I AM ME, MYSELF Poem by 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"