Animal

De José Antonio Calañas Continente
Puig Ravine, Puçol (València, Spain), July 2020

Until one has loved an animal,
a part of one’s soul remains unawakened
Anatole France (1844-1924)

I do not know whether in this life
I happened to simply love an animal
from deep within my soul,
a soul seemingly unawakened.
I do know that I did love –still do–
like an animal does:
with no filters, no assessment,
no judgement about facts such as
if love given and love gotten
do ever balance each other out.
I do not know if I ever loved an animal,
I do know though, that I did love like one
and was happy when being loved
and suffered when not.
And I grew up, I loved and keep loving
just out of the selfishness to know
that it is loving like an animal
what makes me truly human.

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