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"This all about ‘the ego’ and how we see with clearer vision when we subjugate it. No-one said it is an easy thing to do!" - Allen Ansell


Return…




Take one look. One, long, lingering look. 
But do me a favour?
Take off your rose coloured spectacles, 
your nationlist flag, your preconceived ideas,
your sense of specialness, 
your ego: Simply be.

One kiss. One more kiss. Just one.
One life. One breath of air. One desire.
Once alive, no going back: It is begun.
Past hours are destined for the funeral pyre.

See me as I am: Beyond the face and the graying hair.
Beyond the uniform of garment labels, tags, names, and logos. 
Beyond the touch of my hand;
the smell of my aftershave; the taste of my kiss;
the sound of my voice. 
The marque of my steed.

One bird. One on wing. White Dove.
One peace. One lone pleasure. A flower.
Unstoppable. Irreversible. In love.
In absolute awe of the ultimate power.

Understand me, please. 
Accept me as your brother or sister.
My gender is not important. Nor the colour of my eyes; 
the colour of my skin;
the colour of my persuasion; only, of my intent.
My sword is raised in salute, not aimed in challenge.

One thought. One whisper. Pearl sheen.
One wish. One bright sparkle. A star.
Wherever you go, I have earlier been,
Two arrows loosed to travel high and afar.

So we meet again beneath this sun.
Once we were part of the same star;
our tips dipped in the pool of golden light.
Our shafts stressed ready on the great archer’s string,
and then... 
awakening to our individuality 
with that sickening thud in our premature bellies.

Remember?


© Allen Ansell 2022

(Originally published on October 16th 2021, and before that on UKAuthors in the mid-noughties. Brought into the light of day again now with the subtitle 'Return...')