I knew you then, too.  
We were villagers once,  
scrounging for scraps.  
Poor but happy, intertwined.  
 
When you were the court jester,  
I was the queen.  
Secret rendezvous at midnight.  
Forbidden and tragic.  
That was a sad one,  
but you made me laugh.  
 
I was a cat once,  
and so were you.  
You, orange,  
and me, black.  
We were strays on the  
streets of early America.  
You brought me dead mice.  
For you, I killed birds.  
 
Then I was a siren,  
and you a scrappy sailor.  
I lured you to your death  
but before that:  
I kissed your lips.  
Then you haunted  
the shores as a ghost,  
keeping me company  
in the tide.  
 
On that note:  
I'll even have you know 
we were ghosts once, together.  
Haunting the same coastal home.  
We wailed and climbed  
on the ceiling.  
We shook the walls.  
We couldn't touch each other.  
Soon enough, our souls moved on.  
 
Reborn in the now,  
the tumultuous present.  
You don't know about 
the other lifetimes.  
It's my secret to bear.  
Come closer if you dare.  
See me in the right light— 
yes, right there.