I had seen the movie
with your name
just weeks before I met you.

Now, I’m not one
who sees signs and allusions
in every action
– except I totally am.

I search for patterns and rhythms
in dates and dollars.
All numbers and names
and color coordination
have the hope of unlocking
some secret treasure trove of data,
the unknown code book of the multiverse.

The movie was slight
but seemed somehow special
at the time
and the days after
felt pregnant with opportunity,
like some other giant shoe
was about to crash from the sky.

And then it did.
And it was you.
And I didn’t even remember that movie
until a couple of weeks more
and only then did I start to see
the similarities in character and situation
and understand
the subtle foreshadowing
of the whole thing.

Usually, though,
these happen in threes.
So I wonder, was it:
First, I am warned
Second, you appear
and Third, you swallow the gasping world
with your infernal design
or
am I somewhere missing a step?