In my Second Life, I can’t fly
Nor can I read minds
Shape-shifting would be dope, but nah
My Second Life is my haven
My life without the fecund baggage of this one
We have three kids -
I said two was enough, one of each,
A Nuclear Family
But
The day we walked the youngest to kindergarten,
Backpack dwarfing her like an ancient tortoise,
Packed to the brim with crayons and paper and snacks and tissues and folders and promise and anticipation and and and
I cried like a faucet and begged for a third
Just one more with your sweet face
We would be so quiet in our joy,
Hoping that the vindictive universe wouldn’t notice
And assign the karma we earn in our contentment
In my Second Life
I know every detail of your body
I watch you age and change
Remembering youth with fondness (and eager fingers and mouth)
Mapping the beauty as if I could observe all the ancient millennial mountains form in one lifetime
In my Second Life
You savor every inch of my body,
Soft stomach and chewed nipples and bumpy stripes
Knowing it wears the vestiges of the life we created
In my Second Life
I could be happy