Palo Santo

Before I knew your face in this form 

I watched your spirit rise from fire. 

We were waving Palo Santo sticks

back and forth when you vanished 

into a cloud of smoke. I choked. 

I must have inhaled you.

Next encounter was the concrete jungle.

You stopped me and said, I’ve seen you

before but I remember you as a warrior.

You didn’t specify which lifetime. 

I replied, I may have softer eyes but don’t 

be fooled I’m just as powerful inside. 

Your eyes on the other hand, sacred

storytellers—you didn’t have to specify 

which lifetime, they told me everything. 

Pupils dilate to the rhythm of my heart-

beat, boom boom—boom boom. 

You must have blinked me into your body.