Home From A Far Country (Poetry)

Always I came back
it seemed inevitable that I should
despite those declarations when I left
that I was gone for good

But it wasn’t good as it turned out
the novelty of difference wearing thin
just as the pestilence
of homesickness moved in

And there were things
I thought I’d never miss
that nagged and wore me down until
they represented comfort close
                                                to bliss

It seemed perverse I dreamed
and longed for home
I sat and stared out at the sea
searched its stubborn acres of
                                                dumb foam

What ties were there? —
persisting yet unseen —
What lure was so ingrained
it haunted every gene?

Like a lover — like a drug
one has sworn to break the need
and had ourselves convinced
we were purged and would succeed ...

But a web of welcome streets is drawn
like a map informs my mind
and I walk them in the night
all foreign wanderlust resigned

Now I find myself embarked
almost trancelike on my way
a strange magnet rules my heart
I’m headed home again today