reincarnation is a heavy handed theorem in which one's faith is defined by the idea
that upon death the soul can be rebirthed in another body,
define also: the word death,
define also: the word soul and rebirth and body,

reincarnation is at some point a reappearance or a revitalization or a re-embodiment,

in my first life i was a cloud shifter
orchestrating moisture with the ghostly remains of thunder storms
until mother nature found a way to automate the entire process,
thus in my second life i traded black market rain drops
in exchange for the blues and authentic tears,

the purpose of this show and tell
is to teach you a thing - or two - about what is learn-able,

in my third life i was a tongue
and what you need to know is that in most events, though your tongue will taste for you
it will never fully comprehend the consequences of its actions;
you shoulder that burden,
and no matter how many times you bite-
your tongue will never take the hint,

just like when you are pin-pushed into something
so deep that it becomes a part of you,
a true object of affection--

in my current life i had a blanket until i was eight years old,
it was an animal pattern my grandmother had sewn together,
pink giraffes stitched full of cotton,
yellow lions sewn into still-life,
blue elephants stained dark by the remnants of my drool,
and this blanket became a part of me,
and i loved it's smell,
and it came with me, everywhere

except for one sunday morning just before church
with my mother holding the screen door open
i turn and run back into our house, blanket in hand
and i run to the back of the house, at the top of the stairs that lead to our basement
and i prop the cover to our trash barrel open
and i throw said blanket away -- reverse moses, reverse arc, reverse faith,
eight years of flooding myself with emotional dependency and in eight seconds i give up on animal patterns,

define also: the word faith.

at some point it only makes sense that i was the pencil sketch on paper
that inspired the oil painting on canvas
and at some point it would only make sense that i was the rib
described in the book of beginnings; part adam, part eve, part science,

define also: the word inspired.

i remember the first time i was born with roots
i almost choked on the comfort of dirt,
and i came to realize that we live in a meteor's footprint,
and somehow still manage to think that we're above it all
-- as if the horizon is never a mountain,

define also: the word perception.

in my previous life i was a psychic and that's how i know
that in my final life i'll be a vibrant pink post-it note
stuck to the recognizable paper face of tomorrow
with one word marked on me as reminder, as catalyst, as major sub plot,
in sharpie ink marked, scarred permanent with one word,
"change"

(and when the adhesive runs dry)
(when the air moves too fast)
(when i can no longer hold on to this last constant)
(reminder)
(that will be it for me)
(for)(ever)

i'm floor-bound and collecting dust.

07/08/2008

Posted on 07/08/2008
Copyright © 2024 Frankie Sanchez