I Scandalize Myself Poem by Iman Mersal

I must tell my father
that the only man for whom "desire shattered me"
looked exactly like him,

and tell my friends
that I have different pictures of myself,
all true, all me,
that I will distribute among them one at a time.

I must tell my lover,
"Be grateful for my infidelities.
Without them
I wouldn't have waited all this time
to discover the exceptional void in your laugh."

As for me
I am almost certain
that I scandalize myself
to hide behind it.