Parallel Lines (Reincarnation) || Free Verse - Poetry
The first time you meet him Well you can’t remember After all you’ve grown up together since forever And everything you own you share He the one who showed you how to fish and hunt How to catch falling stars and tie moonbeams in his red hair And it’s that same night when you wrap your pinkies together You vow to be together forever But that promised appeared short lived When he got mauled by a bear.
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
You’re cold and your hungry and you’ve been on the street for days Spotting a man, and sure he’s not dressed to the nines But it’s snowing and you'd prefer warm food and a bed just fine Even if that bed’s in the arms of yet another man And you really hope he’s looking for some company Running your fingers down his arms, a smile on your face And you whispers sweet nothings and ask to go back to his place And he stills for a moment as if outright confused Before realisation washes over and it looks as if he might refuse And your face drops and he must have seen for he takes you by the hand Leading you away and for the first time you notice How the sun and the earth have bled into his robes Oranges and browns mixed into one You notice the bald head and the beads twisted around in his palm And with shock and horror you realise what you’ve done You pull back quickly but he holds on tight So if he’s alright with it, you suppose you won't fight He gives you what you expect and yet nothing like what you imagined Food and a bed and a shelter for the night Or possibly forever As you stay on, a day a week or a month You don’t believe in goodness, you don’t believe in love But he shows you differently, and you begin to dream of a higher man above But he is a man of faith and you, well, the devil’s daughter So it is with a great sigh and possible tears in your eye That you leave him without even saying goodbye.
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
Boom boom boom goes the guns Bullets flying overhead Playing Russian Roulette except without the Russians And you 'rock paper scissors' to see who of your mates will fire back It’s you Your head peeps out over the trench Count yourself lucky your head hasn’t exploded yet And you fire off one two three shots Boom boom boom It hits a boy and you see him fall And he’s young, so young Twelve thirteen fourteen who knows It explodes in his face and sprinkles deadly dust over his arms and neck And you barely have time to see him drop to his side Before your friends are tugging you down Congratulations on surviving man But you can’t help but feel you just died.
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
An old man checks into a ‘hospital’ In a place that reeks of death Hell on Earth wrapped in layers of ‘for the better good’ Designed to hide the truth And the men and women who walk in walk blindfolded And who knew words would be such an effective deterrent Scare your old, scare your injured to a last place to lie But not him, he’s different And you remember because of his eyes He’s not blindfolded like the rest of them But in a way he is You wave a hand in front of him and realise He’s blind but all seeing Aware of everything about him, yet his vision is obscured Opposite, different, contrary to popular belief He gives you a sad smile as you strap him in looking at the J that might as well be branded on his skin And the one thing you remember are blue eyes That might have been Aryan had he tried.
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
His skin is darker than you’ve ever remembered it If, you know, you could remember And his hands are wide as dinner plates and rough as sandpaper You can’t help but shiver Despite pretty clothes and a clean shaven face You can still see manacles and open wounds left to fester And your parents tell you he’s a barely tamed monster
You hide your face in your mother’s skirts And wipe your tears with your father’s tailcoat Although you know that this is right, the norm, he’s nothing but a creature You can’t help but feel as if there’s something deeper As if there’s something inherently wrong And as you hide away your face you fail to see The look he gives you as he’s given away for free.
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
You meet again when he’s five and you’re thirty-two And he throws a book at you because of course that’s what any kid would do That and because you’re kind of a stranger And lurking And suspiciously looking like a pedo But that’s beside the point You sit down beside him and explain With all the maturity of a thirty-two going on nine year old man That yes you’re a time traveller No you haven’t seen a real dinosaur And no there’s no secret society of Doctor Who’s There’s just you And sorry to be a disappointment but that’s how it works (Okay he’s five, lying is fine, right?)
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
Married with three kids – what a beautiful family But everything feels wrong wrong wrong It’s your final thought when you go to sleep And your first when you wake You don’t know what it is But it is It’s there and it bothers you to no end Like you're attached to something A Siamese twin, a psychic bond And it’s pulling you away People are getting worried To be honest you are too An itch you can’t scratch If you were to be clichéd Which fits surprisingly well to be fair. You read the eulogies for the first time in year And you're not sure why, but one of the names bring a tear
Two ships passing in the night One looked left and one looked right
8 o’clock morning rush briefcase in hand You’re going to be late The train rings doors closing And you run for it Someone else does too Your feet sliding over the tiled floors It’s a crash and a bang and you slip and fall The man helps you up but your hands still like never before And he has red hair and blue eyes and freckles blasted up his arm And you can’t help but ask “Have we met before?”
Two ships passing in the night Both looked at each other and all was right.