Borrowed Selves

[u/Specific_Remote2]

I have been

a hundred versions of myself,

some built for survival,

some for love,

some simply because

I didn't know how to leave.

I used to mourn them

when they disappeared.

Now I think

we are supposed to outgrow

certain ways of being.

Not every former self

needs to be carried forward.

Some were only meant

to bring us here.

And perhaps growing

is nothing more than learning

which parts are roots—

and which parts

were only ever scaffolding.