I, Who Am Neither

I, who am neither the someone who was here
The moment before I spoke the line that I spoke

This instant past, nor the one who became the one
Who in the second line became a fictional

Someone who was talking to himself
About himself, step by iambic step

Stepping himself away from who he was,
And who he was doggedly following

The footsteps of him who isn’t who he was,
Doggedly sniffing the heels stepping away.

The ignorant heels of him who is stepping away

—David Ferry

David Ferry is a poet and translator whose many works include BewildermentOf No Country I KnowThe Georgics of Virgil, and The Odes of Horace.