I Was

I WAS

“I WAS” as a form of self-destruction, gently touching us with its tentacles.

As if caught in an eternal struggle between who I WAS, who I am, and who I will become.

An inner feeling that our prime is behind us, accompanied by the destructive thought that now we “AM NOT” what we once were.

But as philosophers have suggested, a part of us must die in order to make space for something new — to rebuild ourselves through the remains of our past selves, through the “I” we once were.

“I WAS” is a symbolic punishment we inflict upon ourselves.

Thoughts that act like the strike of a whip, against which we feel powerless. The need to watch our wounds and make sure they never heal, until pain eventually renders us numb.

Numb to the words: I WAS.

Whip Object with Braided Artificial Hair, 2024