The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

by Derek Walcott

This poem imagines you having a new relationship to yourself. It could be after the loss of a love affair, to learning to love yourself or even if you have lost a partner due to bereavement. I believe the poem’s message is about learning to like yourself and be comfortable in your own company. About not worrying about other people’s opinions and needing the acceptance of others. I feel its about not trying to be perfect and accepting oneself as you truly are. Only then can we be content with life.