Autobiography - a poem by James Broughton

Autobiography

I took a sharp look

I took a long prowl

I questioned the serpent

I questioned the owl

I called up the mayor

I called on the sage

I tried reading Proust

I tried life on the stage

I went into therapy

I went out for sports

I suffered every ailment

from sniffles to warts

I went to the dogs

I went to the Pope

I climbed Annapurna

I fasted on dope

I dug up the desert

I delved in the sea

But nowhere I looked

could I recognize me

So eventually I

had to give up my plan

of escape to Siam

and accept myself here

just as I am

But it wasn’t easy

-- James Broughton