Who Am I? Poem by Mary Spain

Who am I? I, the voice that whispered to
Me in my cot, he blackboard studied when
I went to school, the values gathered through
The passing days, wise words gleaned now and then,
Old dreams inherited. I, the ideas
Distilled from centuries of thought and passed,
Some clear and some distorted, down the years.
I am the compilation of my past,
A ribbon binding blooms that others found.
If I should disappear, would I be missed?
Without the complex structures that surround
The very words I choose, would I exist?
But who am I that I should fail to see
There never has been anyone but me?