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Reincarnation #1
Ed McManis

I’m pretty sure
I was a peasant
in a previous life.

I saw a vision of my
former self while I was
waiting for my tire rotation,

then again between
innings getting hot dogs
and beer. Sometimes right

before sleep, in that
gateway where the undead
wait and sins are counted,

I can see my reflection,
recognize my favorite
tennies. Sometimes I’m

reborn in dreams and I can fly.

Today I hear claims about
kings and queens, explorers,
maybe a Cleopatra, a Henry V

practicing his speech, one
of the Apostles exclaiming,
”Not I, Lord.”

One childhood friend
swears he was
Poseidon, bought a boat

sold it, divorced, said he
was actually Hades.
No one says they were Judas.

—
Ed McManis is a writer, editor, erstwhile Head of School, and father. His work has appeared in more than 50 publications, including The Blue Road Reader, California Quarterly, Cathexis, Narrative, Lascaux Review, NMW, etc. He, along with his wife, Linda, have published esteemed author Joanne Greenberg’s (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden) latest novel, Jubilee Year. Little known trivia fact: Ed holds the outdoor free-throw record at Camp Santa Maria: 67 in a row.

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Have you read these poems:
The Plural of Elvis is Elvi by Michael Salcman
A Song Shall Rise by Sandy McPherson Carrubba Geary

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