I Don't Know Where I Came From

I Don’t Know Where I Came From

I don’t know where I came from.

I borrowed a strand of DNA from my mother,

another from my father,

and matter from food

converted into proteins, carbohydrates, fats,

cells and tissues

quietly accumulated while I rested

in my mother’s womb.

I don’t know where I came from,

but one day I was born.

Suddenly, I had a factory of my own

producing energy, building cells,

growing bone, blood, and breath.

Slowly, I grew from a seed into a plant,

developing parts of my own,

choices of my own,

a will of my own,

until I became a whole person.

I don’t know where I came from,

but now I am on Earth,

and I call this place my home.

It feels as though I have forgotten everything

that came before.

All I know is Mother Earth

and everyone here.

I don’t know where I will go.

It seems there was an infinity before I arrived

and another infinity after I leave,

both dissolving into oblivion.

This moment feels like everything

this very second,

so fleeting, yet eternal while it lasts.

I am a tiny speck

on a vast and infinite timeline.

I don’t know where I came from

or where I belong,

yet the place that gave me my body

also shaped my mind.

I began to accumulate

not just a body made of Mother Earth,

but clothes, homes, jewels, furniture,

electronics and technology

all drawn from her,

and from the greater universe itself.

I don’t know where I came from.

Once smaller than a single cell,

now I feel as if I am everything.

I begin to believe I am entitled

to what was only ever loaned to me,

forgetting that nothing here

is mine to keep forever.

I took this loan,

and one day I must repay it

with interest

carrying a bag of karma

shaped by all that I do

and all that I accumulate.

I don’t know where I came from,

and I don’t know where I will go.

I don’t know where anyone came from

or where anyone will go.

But I know this:

Mother Earth is wondrous.

She gives us a temporary stop,

a place to live, to learn,

to rise and to fall

to be born and to die,

to move from innocence and ignorance

toward maturity and understanding.

I don’t know where I came from,

but I hope to develop the wisdom

to recognize my ego,

to honor the life I’ve been given,

and to make the most

of this precious loan

from my mother...

Earth.

 Dr. Jaya Sonkar, MD, MPH

1.8.2026

©️ COPYRIGHT 2026. Dr. Jaya Sonkar MD MPH. All Rights Reserved 

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