Imprints & Pathways
(Poems about becoming)
By Sophie Rouméas

II The Labyrinth of Imprints
(Memories in Motion)
By Sophie Roumeas

Dear Child,

You were born into a space and a time
that some would call indeterminate,
and others, already oriented.

Within this cosmological universe,
which so many seek to explain rationally,
a part mystery may surprise you
in what follows.

What we call “irrational”
is merely the name given
to what is not yet fully understood.
Science, patiently, explores its facets;
it is a matter of time.

This mystery touches the invisible chains of things,
the subtle movements
through which
every gesture leaves a trace,
every thought imprints a direction.

From these dynamics, born of Time and Space,
you will draw one of your greatest learnings.
They underlie the story of the Big Bang,
of stars, galaxies, planets—ours—and species.

Our human lineage,
from the night of its beginnings
to the threshold of this very day,
moves through a tangle of intertwined paths;
an evolving labyrinth
where trajectories unfold
to the rhythm of actions and responses,
individual and collective.

There is no single origin,
but a multitude of traces.
Values, beliefs, impulses, fears—
all that sets us in motion—
quietly orients what comes next.

Thus, we arrive in the world
free of conscious memories in our cells,
yet already inscribed
within an ancient composition where thousands of notes,
more or less harmonious,
have resonated before us.

As life begins,
our own notes are added.
Your melodic singularity remains to be discovered.

Within this space of evolution,
a map of the territory is transmitted to you—
reference points, rules, values—
often without words,
simply by absorbing the world around you.

As your life unfolds,
you will learn yourself through others,
and others through you.
You will try to belong, to resemble, to differentiate,
perhaps to rebel, to seek, to reveal yourself.

You will encounter avatars of your future,
believing you must become
what is expected of you.
You may cross paths with shadows of the past,
believing you must remain loyal
to stories not entirely yours.

You may be asked to heal,
or not to heal,
to carry a symptom others have not known how to transform.
You may take upon yourself
what found no other pathway,
leaving a weight upon your shoulders
that does not belong to you.

The labyrinth is not a mistake in the journey.
It is a memory in motion.
Every detour once had meaning.
Every dead end attempted, at some point,
to preserve life.

Perhaps you will meet yourself
nourished by harmonious, balanced ground—
this is my wish for you.

Whatever path you walk at the beginning,
a time will come when your learning will be to differentiate.

You entered earthly existence
by crossing the threshold of your first matrix—
your mother— and step by step,
you will come to inhabit your own life
by exploring your inner world.

You will discern what allows you to grow
from what confines you.
You will learn to name truth
only what comes alive within you.

When the labyrinth of your psyche begins to reveal itself,
the body sometimes knows before the mind
that it is time to move.

One day, without knowing it,
you began to walk.