In Another Life

In another life You and I worked West Virginia coal mines Side by side Collecting the black dust like sin The day the main shaft caved in I caught your eye As the lantern light guttered out And the after damp swallowed us slowly I gripped your hand And caught a glance Of the next time 'round In another life You and I were Red Guards in training Side by side We marched on Tienanmen Turned our own parents in For hoarding rice And in the Great Leap forward We crawled on our bellies and died A blood orange sky Gave a cry Of next time 'round In another life I was married at thirteen You were killed at twenty-one On a minor battlefield I was buried beside my second stillborn child My last thought it seemed A fever dream Now we sink into a summer afternoon Central Park in June Marveling at the bounty our days contain And we feel it like the shiver Of a passing train That other life Deep underground You and I Side by side We are the next time 'round --- In Another Life - Vienna Teng