What I Am

I have tried,
in this life,
to be so many different things,
always suspecting
I was just an imposter.

All of my efforts
have left this lingering doubt:
that I was not what I aspired to be.

Only in my failures
have I glimpsed this truth:
that I am only what I am,
only the awareness
that “I am”,
and nothing more.

Stripped of my pretensions,
I am once again perfect,
simple and complete,
like the day I was born.