Our Timelines

Cathleen Freedman || Spring 2021

You and I, 
in the whole history of Time, of Being, of Existence!,
are here. 
Not only in the same moment 
but in the same dimension 
and in the same place. 
You could manage any era, I know, 
and yet, we get to be here together now. 
Come on, you can let a sense of awe wash over
you. Somehow our paths managed to cross, 
and we kicked the dirt long enough, 
so they wouldn’t diverge too soon. 
How fortunate I am to make your acquaintance—
again and again and again. 
Bless the lines! 
Like this line 
and that on your hand. 
Bless all the lines that tie us together! 
Even that one where we overlap finitely.
(Your timeline and mine, I mean.) 
There is space you seize where I cease to be,
and vice versa. 
We as a “we” are together so transiently.
So temporarily. 
Oh. 
We coexist so shortly. 
You must forgive me if I linger in your presence
a little while longer… 
Or hold your stare more tenaciously than most.
It is because I know 
that someday 
your timeline 
and mine 
will not 
overlap.