theyve started to catch on-
five hundred years ago some knew, but now
a small truth drifts on every tongue
a few resist; to them, nothing different happens

in quite human form they study a picture-
truth painted with a biased brush
they misread the recycling of being-
thinking ash sparks ash, that fires only feed themselves,
ignoring the new lumber that will burn tomorrow

we know the other truth-
it is only us who are reimagined,
resculpted and returned to breath
again and again beyond our choosing
once in a while, we are lent a shape,
a brief passport in quite human form

i loved you long before this flesh,
and i have wanted you since the last time we were unmade

for you, i taught them language,
so they might write poems that scratch
at a fraction of the way i keep you
for me, you breathed song into them,
so their choruses could match the echo in you

it has been eons since i heard that echo for myself-
we have spent more time apart than together,
drifting through the unknown, out of reach
the humans search for power and purpose,
they have yet to learn one does not imply the other

i fear what comes after this small life-
another dark drift through the quiet of stars
i lie awake, consumed with what to teach them next
so they might carry our love when we cannot
i do not sleep

but lying here with you now-
in quite human form-
the universe eases. it hums again
i find a moment of peace in the cosmos
knowing i have found you again
underneath the same stars