Return

[solopatriot]

For Aaron, for Aaron, for Danny and Keith, for all my brothers who have been, are or will be there, for all the lovers, myself included, who await their return:

RETURN

Meditate
_and understand as best you can
_what he is doing for you,
_ for us.
Attempt to bypass selfish desire,
_ as I assure you
_ to his chagrin or relief
_ he has.
If you could see the world as he -
_through swirling sand and fading mirage -
_ your judgment might not be as harsh.
He longs for you,
_ for home
_ as purely as you long for his return.

The paradigm:
He is a misnomer to most,
_ to all but his brothers;
His ways and whims as foreign to those left behind
_ as the sandy soil he now treads.
Sporadic communication does little
_ to ease the disquietude.
And as his face fades from the monitor,
_ you ponder the bitter possibilities
_ of a spatially divided eternity.
(If he returns,
_ Will gazing into his eyes
_ be as glimpsing a memory of a space forgone
_ never to return?)

Yes,
I understand your quandary,
_ for I now wait on him as well,
But this measure of peace I offer
_ for I have walked many miles in his boots:

You are not - can not - be forgotten.

As surely as spring begets summer
_ and summer... fall
_ so too will this season pass.
Return to you,
_ to us... he will
And regardless of all malady, he will
_ with our steadfast devotion
_ upon his time
_ return in whole.

T.M. Smith