Scott Simpson · Poetry
III. Authenticity
The World We Mean · Authenticity and the Self · Singing · III. Authenticity
All poetryThe original line breaks, stanza spacing, and placement are preserved. Long lines scroll horizontally.
Poem segment 1
III. Authenticity
We talk about authenticity
as if somewhere inside us
one clean voice waits
to be uncovered.
But spend an evening alone
listening carefully
and the room fills quickly.
The confident voice.
The frightened one.
The one rehearsing conversations
that never happened.
The child still asking
to be chosen.
Which one is true?
The loudest?
The first?
The most wounded?
Authenticity becomes stranger
once you stop pretending
the self speaks in unison.
Maybe it is not purity.
Maybe it is remaining honest
about the contradiction.
Letting complexity stay complex.
Not rushing to flatten grief
into wisdom.
Not calling every impulse
identity.
Just staying there long enough
for the different currents
to reveal themselves
without forcing agreement.
Copyright Scott Simpson, All Rights Reserved