Last of the Ascension (Verse) - 7

Recollection

The waves repeated themselves—
never the same, never finished.

Advance.
Return.
Advance again.

His life answered—
in the same pattern.

He had lived it lightly—
as if depth were optional.

He knew that now.

Too late—
or just in time to feel it.

He wanted—
not power, not ascent—

another chance at living
without distance.

He knelt—
not in reverence, but in memory.

Sand gathered in his hand—
and refused to stay.

He let it fall—
as if letting go were practice.

And the past found him.

1974—
the same shore, the same horizon.

The sun had lowered itself slowly—
as if it, too, had chosen to remain.

Gold across the water—
light that did not ask anything of him.

That night—
peace had arrived without condition.

He had not questioned it—
which is why it stayed.

The memory thinned—
as all things do.

But the shells remained.

Weight does not fade
with recollection.

He stood slowly—
as if leaving required agreement.

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