A Thousand Versions by Chris Biscuiti

 

NISHIT DEY

A Thousand Versions

Being a caregiver

has carved a thousand versions of me—

the steady one, the tired one,

and 998 more

sculpted by my calloused hands.

Writing is the place

I gather them all,

stacking their shadows and bruises

until I recognize the outline

of who I am beneath their weight.

When I put a day, a week, a year into words,

I see strength I didn’t know I spent,

I feel muscles I didn’t know I strained,

a resilience built quietly in the background 

of every waking moment.

I see the softness, too—

the part of me that refuses to die out,

the flicker that outlives the exhaustion.

His persistent smile keeps me anchored

when the current tests my footing.

I sail toward the sound of his belly laugh,

and even the waves surrender

to his unseen power,

washing me ashore.

A thousand versions of me carved,

bound by one common thread—

he was born to be my miracle,

the singular piece

they all can’t live without.

© Chris Biscuiti

Chris Biscuiti

Chris Biscuiti is a poet, caregiver, and Dad to his son Bray Bray. Chris' poem The Believer won the 2025 BREW Poetry Project Community Poem of the Year, and his poem The Hours was published in FLARE Magazine, Issue 4. Connect with Chris on Substack — https://chrisbwrites.substack.com