Reincarnations

If I could any animal

Become postmortem, I

Would like to be a fish, and drift

About low tides and high.

 

They’ll lure you with their baited hooks,

They’ll trap you in their trawls.

They’ll sear you in their pots and pans,

And stick your scales on shawls.

 

If I could any animal

Become postmortem, I

Would like to be a bird, and fly

Across the boundless sky.

 

They’ll fell and devastate your home,

They’ll taint and blight your air.

They’ll strip you of your feathering

To stuff the winter wear.

 

If I could any animal

Become postmortem, I

Would like to be a deer, and run

Through thicket, glade, and rye.

 

They’ll blind you with their beaming lights,

They’ll limit where you roam.

They’ll hunt you on Thanksgiving Day,

And hang your head at home.

 

If I could any animal

Become postmortem, I

Would like to be a cat, and dwell

With comfort ever by.

 

They’ll carelessly step on your tail,

They’ll seldom heed your mews.

They’ll amputate your private parts,

And poke you as you snooze.

 

Then there’s not any animal

Without a threat in life-

Not even humans are exempt

From hazards, harm, and strife.

 

Thus if I any animal

Become postmortem, I

Would merely want to be with you,

For, then, I’ll never die.

-EDP

Reviews

[Nigel Newman]

There are touches of this and its repeated theme that go back to childhood poems. I love the "discomfort" of the word flow in the first 2 lines of each new animal. I also like your summary painting of the good aspects of being each animal, and then the downsides brought about by human activity.

It's a sad tale but true, and I love the way it brings you to someone close. For then I'll never die - lovely. However, I might not show this to that loved one as they may think that you only chose them after considering everything else!

Nice job
Nigel

[emipoemi]

That's not particularly the message of the last line, if you understand that this poem to be a dialogue of sorts between two lovers. But I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.

[Nigel Newman]

OK I didn't get that. I can now see that it could be read as 4 pairs of 'statement and response' verses. And then the 5th pair where person 1 basically says 'if that's how things are I don't want any part of it' and person 2 reassures them, having probably known all along how the dialogue would pan out.

I can be a bit dense sometimes or a bit literal, and I can see it now. If you wanted to help other readers you could do things with alternating fonts or page alignment to make it clearer - just a thought.