In another life I am born in 1962
I grow up in a little house in Burt
Spetember 1967 my mama walks me to school
I sit beside you in class that day, and all the rest after
We write poetry together during recess
We play Laura Ingalls together in your yard
Your mother makes me vareniki
Mine cooks your bacon til it's burnt
We walk to school together every day
You graduate grade 10, and 11, then 12
We marry for love and buy houses next door to each other
You have your first son when you're 26
Later, a daughter who is just like you, and in this life that means she is happy
I visit you every day, we have coffee and write our poetry
Eat our vareniki and bake our bread
If the world had been kinder, you'd have been my lifelong friend
And I could save you from all the pain that led to you being my mother

So they asked the tree
If you fell, why didn't you scream
But I did, it said
But I did

Sew your good intententions
Like stones into my belly
I'll never know the difference
Just the weight while I drown
I am just another wolf to you
I'll never know the difference
Between love and a burden

I asked you this morning if we could see my mom
I woke up alone and not at home, I miss her, you know
We drove to a graveyard, when did she go?
I swear we were in her kitchen yesterday
Us and the kids and the smell of warm bread
How could you have traveled so far through time?
Did you forget about me and leave me behind?
I reach out for anything familiar, it's just you here
Older and newer, who did this to us?
They stole my skin and changed your face,
All they've left of us is our eyes, I see you still in the blue
Are you as afraid of me as I am of you?
Just because I do not know where I am
Doesn't mean that I am not your man
Where are the kids dear? Where is the dog?
Please, can I see my mom?

They stamped out your fire
Only to burn you to ash
Too unclean to rest
Beneath their dirt
The salt of the earth
Nothing more than a pillar of salt
To them

Death is such a simple thing
To have made living so complex
To grow around an absence
Is to change your shape completely.

I would have told you
About the way I wake up every night
About how some things
Just don't get better
How that is life
On life's terms
Healing doesn't make
The memories stop hurting
Healing make us
Stop hurting ourselves
That's all
The world will still hurt
But we could have laughed
At the brighter things
Together
Had you stuck around
Another day
We could have talked
At 2 am
If you'd have woken up
Just once more