To Myself

Well the first time I read this I was a little confused but I did notice that it is always "you" and "I" and never they or it. It's like talking to a friend. Sort of like, "I've missed you a lot and I haven't seen you in a while," type of tone. The second time I read it I felt sort of like it was W.S. Merwin saying he knew who he really was but he lost himself. To me, the first two lines "Even when I forget you, I go on looking for you." means that sometimes you lose the person you think you are and you forget the person you used to be, but you will never stop wanting to be that person. The next two, "I believe I would know you, I keep remembering you." I think mean that if that person you were before ever came back you'd know it was them in a heartbeat and you just keep thinking of that person. Everything you do in life makes you remember the person you were before. "Sometimes long ago but then, other times I am sure you, were here a moment before," makes me think that sometimes you can go back to that person you used to be and then they go away again so it seems like they were just there, but then it at other times it seems like it has been forever since you've known this person. "And the air is still alive, around where you were and I, think then I can recognize," this means that sometimes when that person does come back you feel alive again. You found what you were looking for and you think you know it is them. " You who are always the same, who pretends to be time but, you are not time and who speaks, in the words but you are not, what they say you who are not, lost when I do not find you." This to me means that you always see that person as the same. They never change because it is the person you want them to be. It almost seems like that person is only in the past, but they aren't. They are not a part of time, they are a part of you that can be there anytime and any place. The words part confused me a little at first but I think that it means that people may say you were a certain person, but you always make the choice of who you are. The lost part is probably my favorite part. Just because you haven't found that person again or for the first time doesn't mean that they aren't there. They are just waiting in the background. Overall, I really enjoyed the poem a lot. It was pretty interesting in my opinion.