Reddit mentions of The Psychic Life of Power: Theories in Subjection

To situate or locate the "self" is a primary concern and it often feels that the self is the ultimate unknowable other. However, there is always the possibility that this process can lapse into solipsism and one must sublimate many neurotic tendencies to avoid raising our small place within reality to a place of supreme importance. There is a simple joy in realizing and coming to terms with our general insignificance. Having said as much, the content of the poem - an existential cry - is a worthy subject. In terms of form and word selection there are a few things that, if addressed, could tighten up the poem to give it greater clarity and concision of expression. This is usually the case with a first draft dashed off in the heat of emotion. Revising, editing, is crucial. As an object dislodged from ones entrails a poem carries the expectation of vibrational contact with the mind and nervous system of a reader. Even the letter C, alone on a page, can be evocative, tilting and swaying with ramifications.
First, the title: Are you happy book-ending the poem with this question? In line 6 you alter the order and use "who I am" - which, to my ears, is an over usage of the same words in one small poem. I have a feeling that - for the title - if you switched from the question, "who am I?" to the declaration, "I am," the title would bleed seamlessly into the first line, which would clarify the intention of the poem and the self-scrutiny that follows.
The first line has a spark of subtle ambiguity in that "place" denotes a fixed location -i.e, the confines of the self in relation to the wide world and the endless heterogeneity of human interaction. It is a solid opening line. "Cant" needs an apostrophe and the line itself needs a period.
Line two is somewhat troublesome because of the heavy repetition of the word "back." Unless, like a note in a song that fits and propels the melody, you are happy with this repetitive usage, I would consider revising this line. Are there synonyms or other possibilities for "fall back" that you can consider? Perhaps "plummet" or "plunge." Give it some thought and see if you can trim the fat of repetition to make this line as precise as the opener. It also should end with a period. "One step back and there I fall back into the past that I’am trying to run away from." - It also helps to give some context or a concrete example, something the readers can relate to, when alluding to the past. Are you emotionally able to divulge some episode from the past you are mentally fleeing, to put meat on the bones of this common situation?
Third line: The punctuation needs cleaning up. No need for a comma after "but." And add a period after "change." You can confidently drop the word "then" as the meaning is clear without it. This line is also a tad troublesome as the common phrase "things change, nothing is ever the same," is a redundant expression. Perhaps you can dig deeper, stir up you internal muck, take the risk and specifically state how you were in the past and what has changed.
Fourth line: This is something, I'm certain, most people can relate to; however, it causes pause for concern in that these idle concepts of right and wrong - unless you subscribe to the fixity of moral realism (http://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_moral_realism.html) - are often the internalization or sublimation of societal pressures. This line can be tightened up with a few choice alterations and deletions to give it a shiny precision.
Fifth line: we can all presume and understand that you meant "this" chaos, not "these" chaos. The comma needs to be switched to a period. Again, is there some other way of expressing "chaos" whereby you don't use the same word twice in this contained thought?
Sixth line: Hmmn. The quandary. Exist in a vacuum of an amusing isolation that gradually becomes tedious or hope to find the "self" in relation to others... Again, the punctuation needs tidying; and this line could use a haircut to give the thought a heightened clarity of form.
Seventh line: yes, the world is teeming with masses who seem to effortlessly coagulate into groups that function for the betterment of all involved. How does one come to terms with alienation, the feeling there is something different that prevents us from finding "our" people, our group. It's tough. The river cuts the trough that it flows through. Maybe the old Russian was right: to be overly conscious is a disease of the mind.
Eighth line: I feel this is vague and that's alright as intermingling with humanity is frequently impersonal and disappointing but is there a way to focus on an actual interaction that left you feeling nonplussed? Try to give it an experiential quality that has content the reader can relate with.

In terms of form - line-breaks, stanzas and overall shape - it helps to be conscious of the way sentences lay on the page and to locate natural breaks to determine how the poem will occupy the frame in which it is situated.

Here is my suggestion (with minor editing) for a more aesthetically pleasing layout:

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I Am

Trying to find myself
In a place where I can’t move backwards.
One step back
And there I fall back
Into the past that I am trying to run away from.

I was never like this before
But things change.
Nothing is ever the same.

One wrong that you do
Will always overshadow
All the rights you have ever done in your life.

Trying to find myself in all this chaos surrounding me,
The more I try to find myself, the more I fall into this chaos.

The alone time I enjoy, helps me to find who I am.
But in reality I hate being alone.
In a world filled with people,
I find myself completely different, trying hard to mingle with people.
But the more people I meet, the more disappointed I am.

I am still searching for the answers to my one question “Who am I?”

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In conclusion, I think this poem (as a poem and not just as a cathartic existential cry when no other outlet seems possible) has potential. Rilke said, in his Letters to a Young Poet, something like: you do not need to seek external justifications for internal promptings. That's good advice for poets. Express yourself, certainly, if you are moved to do so. In terms of craftsmanship there is plenty to be done to give a poem the finest form and clearest expression it can achieve and, consequently, to reach a potential reader or writer and aid and amuse them on their own path. It may take time to be able to go back and face your initial expression (the first draft) to see if it contains something valuable, to you and a reader, and to do the work to shape it to its highest degree. The content of this particular poem by Terry Matthew is the common ground some of us traverse when facing our mortal lot and the contemplation of our identity within society and the wider realm of nature, geography and Space. The answers may never arrive; but the guesses will pile-up. A useful approach to these complexities is to diminish the severity of our contemplation - which, of course, isn't always easy - and minimize the lacerating effects of our insatiable desire to know by reveling in the constancy of conjecture.

Here is an advanced book that may aid you in the discovery of your self:

https://www.amazon.ca/Psychic-Life-Power-Theories-Subjection/dp/0804728127/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495462205&sr=8-2&keywords=butler+psychic

Good luck Terry. I hope you work on that poem and post a revised version.