Century House Poetry invited one and all to an open mic afternoon celebration of the poetry of ‘Coming Home’. Here is what coming home means to me.
COMING HOME: TO THE PLACE WHERE I BELONG
I’m coming home, to a place I’ve never been before
I’m called, to a land of my dreams and my destiny
I feel at peace, standing in the center of stone monuments erected centuries ago
With the shrubbery covered arch, a perfect frame to St. Declan’s Well
Peat bogs and mountains of Connemara, peeking thru the mists and gray-blue skies
The whitethorn and stone ruins littering the landscape
So many shades of green, there are no words to describe
A modern city, cut in half by the sluggish flowing River Liffey
Trinity College with the Book of Kells, the festive pubs, and forever the craic
I’ve come home to the place where I belong, to the fairy isle of Ireland
I’m coming home, to a place I’ve never been before
I’m called, to a land of my dreams and my destiny
I feel at peace, atop the fortress battlements, with the boom of the 1 o’clock gun
With panoramic views of Edinburgh Town, both old and new
Visiting the Crown Jewels and The Stone of Destiny
Bagpipers in full dress regalia play to the crowds along the Royal Mile
The lochs and glens rising north in the Highlands
Long ago battlefields and castle ruins lay under stormy rainbows
Stone dances, both known and obscure, used as burial sites and ancient calendars
I’ve come home to the place where I belong, to the magical place of Scotland
I’m coming home, to a place I’ve never been before
I’m called, to a land of my dreams and my destiny
I’ve come home to the place where I belong
Not to the land of my birth, but truly to the lands of my heart
D. Jordan Bernal August 2011
This is beautiful and touching, Deborah. Thank you for sharing.