…in that moment

Although it is visceral
and what is seen cannot be unseen
I cannot reveal the horror of the dream
you see it is a dream that is a recurring theme
not a recent thing, not an anomaly
but a constant that has followed me
all of my life and my lifetimes before
even those of which I am unaware
I see the girl who looks like me
be she a pauper or a queen
she never ages in the dream
as a child I knew not who she was
until the mirror slowly revealed her to me
and then the dream
the horror of the dream became clear
and in the endless corridors of time
I feel for that girl that looks like me
for in her place I never knew
that everything did not end in that moment
I never knew that my sacrifice was just the price
the price of my now eternal life
and in every lifetime I relive that sacrifice
and wonder which of my souls
has paid the highest price
© Ann Bagnall