Today I Do Not Know Where To Begin To Be What I Am Poem by Shalom Freedman

Today I do not know where to begin to be what I am
There are so many problems questions difficulties
‘One at a time’ is no answer for many belong together
I could say that I am reconciled
Having lived long enough and having done what I was able to do
I could say that it does not matter so much
Now that it is mostly over
I could try not to care
And stoically reduce desire to no disappointment ever again

But being who I am and where I come from
I will care to the day I can't
And all the problems of the family and the country and the people and the world
Will be my problems.

Where should I begin today to be where I am?
I don’t know. I falter and try.
The first problem today is myself
And from that I will find all the rest.