March 2019
j.lewis
jim.lewis@jimbabwe.com
Author’s note:  It is not unusual for me to write poems for specific people, triggered by an event in their life that pulls at me. This poem was written as a result of an online offer I made to write a poem for the first respondent, their choice of topics. The first reply was from an old friend and poetry mentor whose aunt had passed away, and her uncle was struggling to cope with the loss. That, combined with her own challenges of a new job, and family worries, was heavy on her mind. This was my response to her request.
 
can we just reincarnate


wouldn't it be great she asked
if we could just reincarnate
drop these tired, broken bodies
and step into new flesh, new bones
new sneakers and new jeans
 
she laughed at the thought
pulled a photo from a red clutch
as tired and worn as she was
look
me at sixteen
full of ambition and no direction
sixty was nowhere in my mind
my heart, my bones
like it is today
 
do you think age has weight
she wondered aloud
and answered herself
i do, yes i do
everything feels heavier
harder to hold up
harder to hold onto
 
she thinks about her uncle
and his heaviness
of heart, of mind, of body
tries to fathom his loneliness
that universal unique pain
of separation, of sorrow
the turning to one no longer there
to complain or whisper his love
 
just today someone said
at least she this or that
at least he something else
and it was meaningless
wasted words
and no comfort at all
 
she looks up suddenly and smiles
remembering she is not alone today
though she has been more often than not
more often when it mattered most
 
do you know how hard it is
starting over again at sixty
with new work, new wrinkles, new worries
 
he smiled at the rhetorical question
as he scribbled a new poem
on her napkin
yes, he said quietly
yes
© 2018 j.lewis
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