Once, Long Ago (Poetry)

I heard a horn sound in the forest,
felt the rain fall on my face,
smelt wet leaves - their sweet green carpet,
touched the spirit of that place.

I recognised each poignant echo,
knew the path that led me on,
breathed the scents that urged me follow,
drew me where my dreams had gone.

I glimpsed a vision in a clearing -
half-imagined, fading fast,
swallowed as the shadows, shifting,
dimmed the light so thinly cast.

On the ground, a single footprint,
on the breeze, a whispered word -
an aching sigh that spelled enchantment
and I knew the name I heard.

Now, sometimes on the edge of leaving
those vast hinterlands of sleep,
I imagine that he's calling
somewhere in its forests, deep.

Then my heart runs quick and urgent,
searching, desperate to find
the way home - the life I yearn for
and set free my haunted mind.