by Julian Matthews
Maybe we knew each other in past lives
I was a horse and you a unicorn
This is why our can’ts in this world are like canters
We are maybes trotting in different directions
We are don’ts galloping across the horizon
As if the grass were grander on the other side
Maybe we were insects: i was an ant and you a dragonfly
You hovered then paused on a leaf
I scampered around you like a frantic puppy
Nipping lightly then backing off
Until you peered at me with those googley eyes
— searching for some reciprocation
Then you flew off
Maybe we were the tortoise and the hare
I, slow and steady, you, fast and frenzied
There was never a race
Only a blur glimmer of my ancient face as you sped by
Then I was run over — and you were gone
Maybe we were the Sphinx and the Pyramid
I was pointy headed and looking up
You were regal and lounging serenely looking yonder
I was burning in the sun
You were tanning after a run
And then the sandstorm hit us and we were buried under
and long forgotten
Maybe we would never, ever meet again
In the next life
and the life after that life
and the life after that life
Maybe these fleeting moments are all we have
No pharaonic beginnings, fairytale endings, or
aesopian also-rans
Just these poems
And our cans.
First published in Second Chance Lit, Connecticut, USA
Julian is a writer and Pushcart-nominated poet published in The American Journal of Poetry, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Borderless Journal, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Dream Catcher Magazine, Live Encounters Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal and The New Verse News, among others. He is a mixed-race minority from Malaysia and lived in Ipoh for seven years. Currently based in Petaling Jaya, he is a media trainer and consultant for senior management of multinationals on Effective Media Relations, Social Media and Crisis Communications. He was formerly a journalist with The Star and Nikkei Business Publications Inc
