I Have Lived a Thousand Lifetimes
I have lived a thousand lifetimes
My footsteps remember their path
From Antolia to Assyria I trod
When Semiramis held the high throne
And you were but a servant girl
Beautiful in every way but forbidden
The Nubian dessert parched my skin
My weakened body pale and thin
Your water and a smile a simple gift
My broken spirit bequeathed a lift
Armies marched in lines from Rome
As Caesar led the columns home
Mortally wounded limping by
Again I found you’d caught my eye
In the galley’s of the Persian fleet
Slave to the oars, chained at the feet
Darius would rule until Alexander came
This life was short and filled with pain
When Normans conquered Sicily
An amazing collision of nations three
Palermo a noble place to start
Twas in that town I discovered art
When upon a courtyard fence I saw
A maiden goddess, I was in awe
The sight left with me with courage din
The distance enveloped me from within
Again I caught sight in the Holy Land
When Christians came to fight on the sand
Retaking Jerusalem was our battle cry
The heat overtook us and many did die
Held on a corsair by pirates in Barbary
Could be when I think you finally saw me
To be sold as a slave my forthcoming life
And you much worse, a slave traders wife
The Portuguese created the Caravels
With lateen sails creating tremendous speed
They aimed for North Africa to get their needs
On the shore as we unloaded I caught sight of you
By the smile on your face, you noticed me too
My fears held me tight, but I pushed them away
Words by the plenty I’d wanted to say
And as darkness crept up over the beach
I slipped into the night, deep into the breech
And found you at last alone in the town
Staying close to the shadows, I moved with no sound
But fearing my creep would be seen as a threat
I stepped into the light and took a deep breath
Astonished I was, for right in front of me
Was nothing but air, I’d missed again you see
As the lure of the sea took its hold on the coast
I spent several lives with a ship as my host
Ports far and wide across the oceans and seas
Searching in vain for she who completes me
Yet lifetimes did pass with little a clue
Forgotten inside my soul missed it’s due
And as a hundred years of more passed by
Your sight very dim lay hidden inside
Until a moment on a fateful day
Inside by a fire to stave to cold away
To step lively did I in a stroll across a way
When what did my wondering eyes finally see
But the woman who I’d seen all through eternity
Trepidations churned as I looked in your eye
When everything flashed, time it passed by
I whispered hello in a knowing type of way
You smiled and beamed, nothing to say
Not with words but energy you said unto me
My dearest your journey has ended you see…
© 2016 Ralph Schwartz