In Another Life

in another life

you and I worked West Virginia coal mines

side by side

collecting the black dust like sin

the day the main shaft caved in

I caught your eye

as the lantern light guttered out

and the afterdamp swallowed us slowly

I gripped your hand

and caught a glance of the next time 'round

in another life

you and I were Red Guards in training

side by side

we marched on Tiananmen

turned our own parents in for hoarding rice

and in the Great Leap forward

we crawled on our bellies and died

a blood orange sky

gave a cry of next time 'round

in another life

I was married at thirteen

on a minor battlefield

I was buried beside my second stillborn child

my last thought it seemed

a fever dream

now we sink into a summer afternoon

Central Park in June

marveling at the bounty our days contain

and we feel it like the shiver

of a passing train

that other life

deep underground

you and I

side by side

we are the next time 'round