We all were scattered molecules that danced around the earth, eventually convalescing into a single personhood. Before uniting as one, they existed again and again, uniting into and subsequently breaking from many forms. Bodies are created from eternal particles, reinventing their own existence through new combinations, new vessels that exist on this earth only ephemerally. Once the vessel fades, decays, shatters, the molecules disperse and find new pairings, new meanings. 

Thus we all have been many things. Inside of our bodies exist a piece of Caesar's dying breath, molecules from the waters of Earth's first rain, particles from the bones of those long dead. And once we die, once our bodies decay, the vessel that holds these parts will break, scattering the molecules again into the world so that they might find rebirth.

I was...

I was nothing, waiting to be something.

I was the air around you, and the waves hitting the beach.

I was the stars and the sky, the sun and the moon.

I was floating in the clouds in a makeshift cradle.

I don't remember who sang me my lullabies.

I don't remember who held me in their arms.

I don't remember who whispered good luck in my ear and sent me to my parents.

I don't remember.

I just don't remember.

But one day I hope I do.

I hope the memories will come to me and I hope they are beautiful.

I don't remember who I was before who I am now.

But, maybe, I just don't want to.

That to me wasn't just a few years ago,

I'd love to fall asleep and have this back tomorrow,

To me it seems like a lifetime ago,

I never thought happiness was something we could outgrow

I was the little kid who rang the doorbell,

Woke you by stomping up the stairwell.

We'd make boats out go sticks,

Build houses out of straw and bricks,

We would hide behind trees,

And make fun of white cheddar cheese,

As we played monopoly on the floor,

And turned the tree-house into a convince store.

That to me wasn't just a few years ago,

I'd love to fall asleep and have this back tomorrow,

To me it seems like a lifetime ago,

I never thought happiness was something we could outgrow

I am the dirt

-i was the life

Beneath your feet

-in a child's eyes

I am the life

-i was the smell

That you mistreat

-of freshly baked pies

I am the fire

-i was the ice

That destroys your homes

-on a hot summers day

I am the marrow

-i was the flowers

That seeps from your bones

-that grew in may

I am your demons

-i was the rain

That try to break free

-that watered your garden

I am the husband

-i was the man

That is lost at sea

-who gave you a pardon

I am the memories

-i was the wind

That you no longer remember

-that flowed through your hair

I am the nightmares

-i was the love

Where your love gets dismembered

-that you met in the square

I am your childhood

-i was the heavens

Monster, alive

-that the greeks admired

I am the darkness

-i was the scent

Where suicide thrives

-that your child perspired

*another 'paintingskies' poem*

I was a crystal clear raindrop

clinging to verdant leaf

before splashing to ground

ecstasy as I met the earth

joining little dancing sprinkles

water sprites forming a torrent

as I fused in running stream

meeting passionate watery mates

coupling into frolicking creeks

scurrying before running dry

to marry kindred souls -

rushing river of life.

Teal tributary of river

sprayed and foamed its joy

passionately chasing molecules

kissing neighbors of moisture

clinging in wild abandon

as I frolicked and skipped

downstream into nirvana of

tender promise of beckoning sea

prancing united with aqua soul mates

forming crashing waves of surf.

Sun beamed its fevered rays

evaporating me into particles of mist

floating dreamily to pillowed clouds

welcoming me with open arms

embracing me to creamy bosom

where I slept until reawakening

into nubile raindrop once again.

In my past life I was a child. A spoiled rotten, bratty child with an attitude. Someone who felt entitled and always got their way.

In my past life I was a teenager. A pots moving, coke snorting, sex crazed teen.

In my past life I was a young adult. A rash decision making, compulsive person.

In my past life I was a wife. A law abiding, God-fearing pastors wife.

In my past life I was a mom. A homeschooling, better than anyone else stay at home mom.

In my past life I was a victim. A recipient of vitriolic words, painful pushes and abusive ways.

In my past life I was suicidal. A depressed human with no value of my own life.

In my past life I was a lot of things that I am not proud of, but they've molded me into who I am today, and now I finally like me.

Forget the past. Move forward, don't look back.

i was

nothing, nothing

something, maybe

drifting, floating,

waiting, waiting

to be revealed in all my glory,

to the world

waiting with baited breath

and hushed whispers

i am coming.

i am nothing.

--

i was nothing

maybe something

hurried, lazy waiting

staying, drifting

singing, but not breathing

inhaling words

spitting sentences

digesting chapters and

plucking out books

twanging heartstrings and

playing tendons and

banging bones on windowsills

painting skulls and

blowtorching houses and

whispering secrets into delicate ears

i was once something

but i am now no more.

i will be something

i am waiting

waiting to be reborn.

Guan Yin. I was the goddess known in east Asia for unconditional love and compassion. Much of what was known about me then is still true today

Statues and art has been made in my image.

The lotus is my symbol.

I was the daughter of a ruthless King. He fancied me to marry a rich snob who cared not for people only things. I refused,my father ordered me put to death. But upon my arrival in hell, the flames were quenched and flowers bloomed.

Hell spat me back to life again, I came back in the heart of a lotus flower.

I am the benevolent one, protector of children and elderly. I am renowned for my power over animals and weather.

This is just a little bit about my past life. There's always more.

GuanYin

The act every night is one of great joy

Trained and taught to put our differences on a show

We laugh while we perform

Letting a part of ourselves out through the various characters we play

I let the people inside of me out

And outside in

The fragments of personalities normally not able to surface run wild like the horses and men.

And I can I smile like the children,

I can remember when I was just like them.

My soul is content,

Wild and running free

Oh what a life I behold

What it is to be me.

I was the sky,

Burning in the dawn,

Heralding the ashes of dusk.

I was wildfire, 

Roaring through the forest,

Dying in a small pocket of flame.

I was a star,

Glowing red,

Exploding inward.

I was all these things,

Or nothing at all,

A dark abyss of swirling black.

Then how to explain,

The things I shouldn't know,

Words I could not have.

How best to tell,

The gleaming edge

In my eye.

For the fire rages on,

The sun burning inside,

The stars lining my skin.

The world,

Cupped in the palm,

Of my celestial hand.

I was a being of stars,

With flaming hair,

Eyes like twin suns.

The stars remember me,

They sing to me,

Their words making me dream.

Fire brushes under me,

Whispering it's heady tune,

Waiting for me to be consumed.

The sky,

It's bottomless depths,

The sun reaching over the horizon.

I am a human,

I was the sun and the stars,

I was a raging fire.

Now and then,

Then and now,

My image burned into the minds of people.