I am the sum total of my ancestors.
I am the summation of nations
whose formation took place in
years before I ever entered God’s imagination
Back to the story of creation.

I am the sum total of my biology.
From my organs to my cells,
To my smallest organelles,
To my strands of DNA
With their double-helix shape.
To my atoms to my genes,
To my energies unseen.

I am the sum total of my environment.
I am the product of my street, my city,
My homes of the past,
My schools of the future,
My conversations that last and pass,
Friends who stay and go,
Parents who stay and go,
Families that ebb and flow.
Pollution entering my nose,
Weather that chills my bones.
Governments governing my actions,
Society gauging my reactions.
Every disappointment,
Every satisfaction.
I am a summation of interactions.  

And when the stars are out at night,
Am I beyond their sight?
Do planetary changes affect my inner light?
Do I still feel aching from my soul's past fights?
Can I rise above these influences?
Or is captivity my plight?

I am a system
within a system
within a system
within a system.

And somewhere amongst all of that . . .
                                                                  . . . I'm still me.