When we were kids we were so afraid of dying I remember staring out the window on long car rides trying to grasp forever you said you did the same which was a strange because while I am sure we all have nobody else admits it you said maybe dying is not going somewhere new maybe it is going back like death is an old ocean and life is a fish breaking through the surface silver body full of panic and sunlight for one bright brilliant second the whole sky appearing above it maybe life is the brief astonishment the silver leap because for a moment the sky is so bright the fish forgets the water because the light is beautiful and burning and everyone we love is here but the water has always been there waiting not cruelly nor hungrily just waiting maybe we have done this before found each other with different faces different hands maybe once we passed each other in a market and both turned around without knowing why maybe once I was the sea and you were the moon dragging me gently back to you and maybe in the next life I will know you before I know why maybe love is not proof that death cannot take us maybe love is proof that death has tried before and failed all this time I thought love was a beginning but maybe finding love is recognition maybe it is not nice to meet you maybe it is looking through lifetimes until finally there you are I have missed you.
My boyfriend and I have had a lot of talks recently about death and how we saw it growing up. We talked about reincarnation and “forever” and he said “Imagine a fish in the ocean. That fish swims up and breaks through the surface. That few seconds the fish is out of the water, thats life.” and it was stuck in my head all week so I had to write about it.
I was never religious. I do not know what waits for me after death, but I like the idea that somewhere in the great beyond we will find each other again. That energy our cannot be created or destroyed and therefore will always come back to each other.
Also, I cannot decide what to title this poem, so let me know what you think 🤔 I usually pick a line or two from the poem but “the fish forgets the water”, “breaking through the surface” and “looking through lifetimes” all make me smile.
This post was inspired by one of the prompts dropped into The Muse Jar. Thank you so much for the support!
The Muse Jar, a project where people submit something—a word, memory, smell, anything—and I randomly pick some to write a poem about.
If you would like to learn more about The Muse Jar, you can see the post below.
If you would like to become a muse, you can submit here.
“maybe once
I was the sea
and you were the moon
dragging me gently
back to you
and maybe
in the next life
I will know you
before I know why”
🕊️
I loved this 🥺 and I like the title :)