I am because you are

I never knew you as a fish nor a fern, never as fig nor fox.  

I wish I’d known you as the elm before the blight, pre-1922.  

I can see you now, tall and buxom, your vibrant June crown. 

 

I never knew you as a Bandersnatch1 nor banshee, never as 

 basilisk2 nor bigfoot. It’s good we never met as dragons, ruby 

scaled and fuming, a fountain of sparks to bring us breathless. 

 

I never knew you as gesture nor high five, never as stomp dance 

nor sigh. I did mistake you once for a moan cast low across the 

deadfall, tide of gloaming saturated with small secrets. 

 

I never knew you as disappointment nor cartwheel,  

as keening nor balloon bouquet. I heard you hum the tune  

on my tongue; simple notes to drift with a cold, riffled stream. 

 

I never knew you as the word of God nor fable, fairy tale or myth. I’ve learned to hold your gaze, ubuntu3, beside a psalm of blood and spirit, to merge our best moments. In glory, the you I know. 

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1 – from Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll 

2 – serpent like creature with a deadly gaze 

3- ancient African phase meaning I am who I am because of who we all are