Whence cometh the longing?
That yearning for home,
for Other?
Where is home if not within?
We travel eternities
through life, death, time and space …
Perhaps each realm confers
its own forgetfulness;
maybe this is the bargain we make
so we don’t jump ship.
Today, I learn deference
if it lasts a matter of hours
or one hundred years.
If I am distracted, time runs out
and I get to do it all over again
as a different constellation
in the vast Unknown.
I often wonder where is my home.. c
Celia, I know the feeling. Or knew it better, years ago. This particular poem was written in reflection of my dying mother, who has long had trouble with Earth being her home. For years, she has longed to ‘join her loved ones on the other side of the veil,’ meanwhile all but ignoring those on THIS side, despite their best intentions! Now she languishes, “tired of livin’ and scared of dyin’,” as the Old Man River lyric goes.
Humans are so vastly complex that I’ve tried, over and over again, to write articles/posts on this dying process, seeing as I’ve been immersed in observing it. But whenever I do, they evaporate in the editing process. Poetry, for me, conveys what prose simply cannot.
That all being said, I used to think my home was elsewhere, whether in the stars, in my imagination, or in another earthly location. I had itchy feet, for sure. It is only in the past few months that my husband and I have found our sweetest home ever, and honestly, I don’t care if I ever leave. It was all I could do to travel back here to the mainland to attend to family matters. So I’m enjoying my daughters now – on the other end of the living/dying spectrum. It’s all so interesting.
Blessings to you and all your farm creatures, dear C!
I haven’t seen the word ‘deference’ in years – how weird!
Wonderful poem, really enjoyed it.
Haha – guess I’m known for speaking and writing words rarely used. Not sure why – they simply come into my mind. Thanks for visiting 😉
Very beautiful Bela!
Thanks so much!
Home is not a physical place, but a place where you invest your time, energy and emotional life. It can be anywhere, physically. A wise person once told me, when I told her about wanting to leave this place I’m living, “…but you take YOU wherever you go.”
Ronnie, while I agree with you in principle, some of us are so bound to our senses and nature that it seems like it’s also important to feel our way through the world to discover our proper den 😉 I could never adjust to living in a city, for example. I would languish, no matter how settled in my skin I may be. Can’t deny there are soul-sucking places in this world for some of us, and so finding a place that feels nourishing gives me a springboard from which to give more to the world.
Peace.
My dear friend, I have nominated you for some awards, you are welcome to make all or less, the link is: transcendingbordersblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/3-awards/
Tazein, again I thank you so much for thinking of me. I chose early on in my blogging ‘career’ to opt out of awards, as I just have enough time to write posts and live my life 😉 I hope you don’t feel offended, and again, thanks dear one, and all the best.