sometimes you wish
you could remember
your prior lives  

the ones with quiet love stories
and old age endings  

ones with deep roots
birds nesting in your body 

you miss the forgotten feeling
of walking on all fours  

of having furred fingers

of sinking claws
into cracked earth  

birthing 9 children
and teaching them to fly  

hiding in caves
seeing sound against their walls  

all this time you’ve thought you were weak  

but God
if you could have seen
yourself with skin              – scaled and gilled –
separating atoms to create air  

performing miracles just to breathe  

you wouldn’t need anymore
idols
to worship