Permanent Ink

We're not meant to be, you and I,
Not here, not now, not in this life.
As much as I might wish,
As much as you might hope, or not.
	(for the rambling mountain roads of where I was young
	are straighter than the answers you give
	but I have seen you watch me
	and I have heard your hidden dreams)

But I believe
This is not our first life not spent together.
It won't be our last within one another's sight.

I will write your name on my soul
In permanent ink.
If you choose, you may write mine on yours.

Our next lifetime, or the one after:
We stand so close we taste the same breath,
Speak aloud of nothing important,
You look inside me, and I inside you,
And see our own true names.

3/3/03