The Next First Time

Have you ever dipped your hand in water
To catch a fish? In the same way, lover,
I think our souls have been in hot pursuit
These past few million years.

The last life: two butterflies in the shelter
Of a flat leaf, from rain. And, once,
My mother. You held me and held me until I ran away.
Another time, strangers passing in the street.
Scarves flapping on that windy day. One hot look,
Not quickly forgot, was all that would hold me
For the next century.

Faster and faster in a backward spiral:
Deadly rivals -
Partners in a race -
A lion and a gazelle -
A mosquito feeding from my blood -
Two brothers napping -
The soldier who killed my father -
The man who pulled me from an icy river -
A hunter, pausing, to chew the juicy leaf of my basil bush -
Two bumblebees bobbling slow to circle the same rose -
The rock trips my horse-
Slow mud crabs miles under water -
Green lichen on an ocean stone -
Two specks given life by lightning -
Each of these lives just a flicker from one fire,
Which consumes equally betrayal, friendship, longing, lust,
Grief, pity, love, sweetness, salt.

You kissed me in the shower. A waterfall
Off your nose, down your shoulderblades, off your cock.
And then we hugged until bones cracked,
Trying to get close enough
But it didn't work.
Now I lie alone in bed and think your breath
Tickles my cheek.
Next time will I know you?
Will I see you for who you really are
In all the earth, the wind, the rain, the fire?