Polyincarnate

Most of the body’s past lives
Overlapped the body’s life,
Whether the body held you

Or any human ideas
Or was another species—
Many lives lived that ended

And contributed substance
To the body’s life. They weren’t
Layed end to end, prior lives.

They died and were taken up
Into already living
Life again, part of that life.

And the body’s future lives
Aren’t waiting ahead for it.
While the body continues,

Littler lives consume small bits
To fuel themselves, components
Of the body that become

Components of the bodies
Living and dying in it,
Some of which return to it.

So yes, you’ve been an insect
A bacterium, a fish,
Even while you still exist.