Some Other Life
© 1999 Jim Rivers
Real Audio sample   (41 sec)

When you're scared and lonely awake in the night
When you're wicked and wandering in some other life
Don't be afraid of the reasons that make up a life
Don't be alarmed but the seasons they will go by

She said I'd never believe her, never in this life
The things that she's done so that now she has something to hide
I said I could not deceive her but she knew this was a lie
Just for a moment I thought I could see her in some other life

When you're stoned and alone and it ain't goin' right
When you're demons are screamin' your head's too tight
Don't be afraid of the shadows that walk in the night
They are afraid of themselves and afraid of the light

She gave it all that she had for as long as she had to give
It was easy to love her and easy to forgive
I just hope she knows that I don't really see wrong or right
There was a moment back then but that was in some other life

~

A rock song about confronting the worlds demons, they confronting you and you confronting your own demons.

I met a girl who called the streets her home and the street people there her family. She had strong eyes and a focused gaze.  Probably of good breeding though she wouldn't say. We worked at a resource center, a hub that connected people to what they need. We were all told not to get too personally involved with those we tried to help. I think she was very used to not following orders or advise although she was very good at giving both. Being young and strong led her to allow people to pour their pain into her, a vessel for the slime they tried to transfer to her. If only she had a way to release that stored up pain from her own self. But she couldn't and she went deeper and deeper into their tortured worlds. She thought she was strong enough to hold herself apart, separate from the tragedies she witnessed and engaged. Sadly she was not immune to the worst of what she immersed herself in.

She came in one day and I was shocked at her appearance. Her eyes were dark and sunken and the steady gaze now stared steadily down at the floor. Her skin hung loose on a emaciated  frame just as her spirit now hung loose on a discouraged soul. It was the same person but a different inhabitant. Who would heal the healer.

I tried. I told her I saw her as someone other then who she now assumed to be. That it was probably just my own wishful projection for her but she could be whoever she wanted whenever she decided who that person should be. That it may be time to lead by example, she had the compassion once, she would have to use the strength she had shown before but that was only natural for her. She gave a dismissive snort and said that all that had been as if in another life. True, I said, but that I couldn't help but see her in some other life. We both left the center after that, each in our own direction. I left before the tide of human emotion could drowned me, she left, hopefully to recover. It can be very hard work to leave your feelings exposed. The hand that reaches out to others can grow tired even if the heart is energized by doing so. I can only hope she found a pleasant sandy cove, a respite where she regain her strength and composure. She had earned it.