Another Life

A reflection on the roads not taken and the quiet beauty of the life we chose instead.

After reading Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I found myself imagining what that “other life” might look like: another country, another love, another version of me entirely. Another Life is a poem about possibility, longing, and the quiet contentment that settles in when we realize we’re exactly where we’re meant to be.

ANOTHER LIFE

There’s a road she once ignored,
now she walks it in another life.
In high heels on cobblestones,
she moves with purpose.

A glass of white wine in the Piazza della Signoria,
him occupying the space across from her,
curly black hair,
piercing blue eyes,
a devilish smile resting on his lips.

You’re not there,
and she doesn’t even exist.

In this world of refinement,
of having it all,
would she feel a small ache somewhere deep inside
as she went about her busy days?

Working — living in another country,
waking up in an apartment in Tuscany,
phone calls in cafés,
evening strolls along the Arno River,
weekend trips to museums, exploring other cities,

would she know something was absent,
lost to another life?

And yet, the same moonlight spills through my kitchen window.
He’s asleep in our bed,
and she is in hers,
a bunny tucked under her arm.