do you believe in love at first sight,

they ask? ascending this endless ladder

of lifetimes, each has once been the mother

of the other – and so too must we all then

have been lovers across these countless lives.

how else to explain this knowing, this too-

intimate recognition, this glance from the woman

on the bus that draws the air from your lungs

extracting your heart as she rises and goes

the accordion doors slapping shut behind her

leaving you with nothing but the memory

of those luminous eyes,

never, in this lifetime,

to be seen again.

© 2016 jafink/oldbones.newsnow.com