Your Constant Companion
[The Carer Self]

I am always with you
Do you hear me
As I seek
To find a way
To guide you?
.
Do I call you softly?
Do I chastise you harshly?
Am I calm or rough with you
Or somewhere in between?
.
Do I soothe?
Do I encourage?
Do I frighten?
Do I tempt?
Do I forbid?
.
Do you wish I would just go away
And leave you alone
In peace?
.
But I am there too
For where would you be
Without me?
.
Where do I come from?
Do you possess me?
Do I possess you?
Is it my voice or yours
That speaks its mind?
.
Am I in your head,
The heart, breasts and bellows of your chest,
Your gut or your gonads?
.
Do I come in from out of the blue –
Your parents and teachers
Your neighbours and neighbourhood
Your trials, mishaps and discoveries
Your wounds and recoveries –
As I speak to you?
.
Do you answer me back?
Do we converse?
What say you?
What say I?
.
Am I honest, reasonable, kind
Or am I a bind
That misleads, punishes and paralyses?
.
How should I know?
How should you?
What you truly want
And what you truly need
And how that depends
On circumstances beyond our control
But not without our influence
Our ability to attune
Receptively & Responsively
To what’s called for
Together