Know Thyself Poem by RIC BASTASA

at the entrance of all our doors
in our delphis
we put this notice
addressed to ourselves

know thyself

sometimes i wonder
what does this mean?

do i have a self?
have i given it a name?
is the name myself?

i look inside
this self, there is none
it is not me
it is thinking thoughts
not my own
we quarrel
we disagree
this is not me
this ought not to be me

the oracle of delphi
must be wrong
how oedipus rex hurt himself
because he did not like himself
suggests somehow
there is another self
within us........

how many now?
this self? that self?
these selves?

somehow the oracle
of all oracles must be correct
we are unhappy
because 99% of what we do
is for the self
the self and nothing but the self

and there is none any anymore