"Are we friends in each lifetime?"
asks the asp to the lily bud
coiled around her stem like an exotic bracelet
flicking her tongue to taste the sweetness of her petals.

The lily bud flutters in the breeze
Eyes closed and with a smile so serene
She contemplates and then answers;
"Yes we are, don't you know cariad?"

"I am the lamb in the jaws of the wolf
While you are the wolf with glistening eyes, whose jaws have sunk in too deep."

"I am the babe of a listless mother
You are the moss with which she smothers me."

"I am the widow who has lost it all
You are the stream in which I drown.

"I am a sunken ship, a forlorn museum of unspoken memories
And you are the storm that had wrecked me."

"I am the dying dryad whose tree has been torn
You are the woodsman who cradles my prone form."

"I am Ariadne mistaken for a doe
And you are the weeping huntress, cursing your fatal fault."

"I am the maiden in some macabre ghost tale
while you are the knife that was embedded in my breast."

"I am the devoted bride of a wayward prince
You are the imprints of his hands around my throat."

"I am the condemned with a thousand allegations against her name
You are the flames unto which I am given."

"I am the tears of the forgiving Desdemona
While you are Othello's despair incarnate."

The lily bud sways to meet her friend's gaze
Who looks at her in thoughtful bewilderment
Nuzzles against her cheek, and says;
"So yes, we are friends in every existence."