A Thousand lives

I so often write
From another perspective
I might seem deflective
Of the me in real life

But really I think
I just want to live a thousand times
All in the span of some rhythm and rhymes
All in the span of my poetry and prose

And yes,
I've lived my own life too,
But now I want to experiment with something new
I want to capture how people feel

I write of soldiers,
Of wars I've never seen
I write of places and worlds where I've never been
In these moments, I live through the eyes of another

I want to understand emotions,
I'll try to portray a daughter who's grieving,
Perhaps guilt can be seen in a pickpocket's thieving,
Exercises for me, to feel these things

And if I write
Of what I've never known,
Of memories that were never my own,
It's because a writer lives a thousand lives

And I intend to do so.