since I am
the reincarnation
of an undiscovered impressionist
painter
offering pastel softness
and you are my petite cherie
whose every life
has shielded the endangered

that we should meet frequently
in some prearranged chamber
perhaps inside a boarded-up store front
just off that noisy retail street
in Paris Bangkok Atlantis
Hector’s effulgent Troy
or beneath some indefinable aura
where bamboo curtains shine
afterlife hindsight

that we should speak
the ruby throated language
of hummingbirds
stamen and pistil paint brushes
slathering the insides of each other’s brains
with lush Tuscan landscapes
while we sample gourmet morsels
and sip evocative wines
(occasionally from the holy grails
of our clairvoyant bodies)

that we should dress in stately Chinese silks
and legless beggar’s rags
to engage in wild chocolate
anima to animus transformation
you into me
me into you
our cherry blossom hearts
bleating starlight
until we scream for it to stop
but only so we can begin again