Wislawa Szymborska

I am who I am.

A coincidence no less unthinkable

than any other.

I could have different

ancestors, after all.

I could have fluttered

from another nest

or crawled bescaled

from under another tree.

Nature's wardrobe

holds a fair

supply of costumes:

Spider, seagull, field mouse.

each fits perfectly right off

and is dutifully worn

into shreds.

I didn't get a choice either,

but I can't complain.

I could have been someone

much less separate.

Fate has been kind

to me thus far.

I might never have been given

the memory of happy moments.

My yen for comparison

might have been taken away.

I might have been myself minus amazement,

that is,

someone completely different.

— Wislawa Szymborska from ‘Among The Multitudes’