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Conversation

My neighbor believes in reincarnation.
After I tell him I don’t, he changes
the subject. He asks me if I’ve seen all
the Monarch butterflies this summer.
I haven’t. Really? And the fireflies?
Of course, you see those every night.
No, I don’t. I haven’t seen a firefly in
I don’t know how long. He looks at me.
Well, there’s your proof, he says. Proof?
Proof of what? Proof for reincarnation.
You don’t attract butterflies and fireflies
because they know what you are.
They know what I am? They know you
were a predator in a past life, probably
a bat or a spider or a black-eared mouse.
Or all three? I said. Yes, in three past lives.
And what about my next life? That’s easy.
In your next life, you’ll be a bat or a spider
or a black-eared mouse. Or all three? Sure,
in your next three lives you’ll be prey
for the owls around here. Good. I like owls.

—
Nominated for the National Book Award, the Eric Hoffer Book Award, and nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize, J.R. Solonche is the author of more than 40 books of poetry and coauthor of another. He lives in the Hudson Valley.

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