Am I lost?

By: Reese Walker

Posted on: March 15, 2022

Cover Image Artwork by: Janani Venkat Ramanan

Classification: Photography

The compass points south,

but what if I wish to

discover the North Pole?

Who am I, if I’m in the middle

of the maze of my thoughts

with only a map

to find my way out.

‘X’ marks the spot,

from where I started,

my footsteps drawing

the dotted line behind me.

Walls of hedges lock me in,

they twist and turn

with my every step

down the wrong path.

Vines crawl at my feet,

asking, “Who are you?”

Do I know the answer?

Does anyone ever truly

know who they are?

The road changes

underneath me,

guiding me through

every right and left turn.

There is no river

to see my reflection

of who I am on the outside,

but now, I know who I am

on the inside.

The map in my hands

tells me where to go next,

so I set off, from the maze

to the real world.

Poem description:

This poem talks about losing who we are and how to find ourselves again. We spend every day rediscovering ourselves - learning so many new things. How do we really know who we are? What defines us? It’s easy to get lost in our thoughts and emotions. For this reason, sometimes we need our own compass. But who is our compass? The compass is ourselves, and the people in our lives, telling us where to go and providing us with guidance.

The “maze of my thoughts” (line 5 in the poem) refers to how our own minds can get confused about where to go. However, it is important to keep in mind that there is always a map to help us; whether it was ourselves, another person, or people of the past who drew it. This map contains the lessons on how to move forward; for everyone. In fact, while it may not always easily be seen, we ourselves are moving forward every day - with our path away from the ‘X’ on the map, our starting point, showing that we are always growing in life. The vines depicted (line 16 in the poem) are like doubts, wondering if we are on the “right path” in life. But don’t worry - there will always be something to guide us. We are not in the maze alone; there’s someone or something to help us at all times.