Magrathea

I was a flower in a past life. 

You probably were, too 

Maybe we grew together

Until our petals became fused.

Then before that I was a beetle. 

Not the kind that sings,

The kind that rolls dung around

And flies with jeweled wings.

And before THAT I was a lizard

Rubbing dusty lids,

Stretching in the sun 

And chewing brittle skin.

I think there's a blank slate here. 

A billion years or so

You were a mitochondrian

With many things to know.

Like who you are,

Where you're from

What you do,

Your total sum. 

And I, again,

The premier cell of greed,

Gobbled you up and caged you,

Never to be freed.

It's funny looking back

On all the lives we've shared.

As friends or lovers or bailiff and charge

And the story of how you've fared. 

I think about the past a lot these days

And the things that we once were

But I love you, dearest prisoner,

Of that you can be sure. 

But when I think of days yet seen

And quiver in my fear

You greet the unknown brave and true

As friend near and dear.