0009 Mild And Bitter Thoughts
and I'm sitting in the pub,
fruitful source of people-watching verse,
(Jake will know it)
collecting the strength to walking-stick home
or that's the story,
chilling out,
glass half empty,
heart half full,
a benign haze of love
for all the people in the pub
mingling with an universal love
suspectly
opposite, two sepia photographs
of local scenes, which the thoughtful pub chain
use to decorate the walls:
both are of the local, semi-rural, Tube station;
one's from 1905ish so I'd I guess
from the floor-length skirts,
the birds'-nest hats; I wonder
if the ladies felt the need to think
dress up? dress down? for this
ground-breaking, literally,
new form of transport?
the other's from around the early 1920s:
a glimpse of stockinged ankle, gasp, or manly faint..
I try to place myself, push my sepia way
into gelled history - 1905, and if I still lived round here
the house would be brand-new; I -we- would be so proud;
newly-married with my stable job,
stiff collar rubbing on the neck in summer heat;
and just the right age to fight
for King And Country in that bitter war
that loomed on the expansive, leisurely, secure
Edwardian horizon..how did my widow manage
with all those children?
No; I know too much in my born blood
of that trench war.. let's look instead
at post-war peace - the stiff collar
still chafes, but I walk erect
still in a bowler hat, a waistcoat, a sense
of my place in society, a career
of slow but steady rise in just one firm; and
it's a toss-up whether I might be
still young enough to be called up for
my King And Country around 1939,
or old enough to be bombed at home...
The glass is empty and the crisps are done
(that sounds like Auden, Eliot, Betjeman?) :
I pull myself with sepia suction sound
out of the photos into full colour; and
still benign and walking steady,
take home my fantasies and gratitude.
One lifetime at a time - that's quite enough.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Country Road
Take to the highway wont you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one in the same
Momma dont understand it
She wants to know where I been
Id have to be some kind of natural born fool
To want to pass that way again
But you know I could feel it
On a country road
Sail on home to jesus wont you good girls and boys
Im all in pieces, you can have your own choice
I could seen a heavenly band full of angels
And theyre a comin to set me free
Dont know much about the wild wind
But I can tell that its bound to because I could feel it
On a country road
Guess my feet know where the want me to go
Walking on a country road
Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down
Walk on down, walk on down a country road yeah
La la la la la la la
Country road
Yeah walking on a country road
Country road
Yeah
Walking on a country road
song performed by by Indigo Girls
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Whose Country Is This?
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of snakes;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of many waters;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of thieves! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of oil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of earthquakes!
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of lovers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of volcanoes!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful flowers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hansome men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of beautiful women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of roses;
Whose country is this?
it is a land ruled only by men;
Whose country is this?
It is a land without rainfall;
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by a woman;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of corruption!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pirates! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land ruled by law;
Whose country is this?
It is a land controlled by rebels!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ice;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant women;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of singers;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of troubles;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of war! !
Whose country is this?
It is a land with the biggest cemetery in the wolrd!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of desert;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of trees;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pregnant teenagers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of timber;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of hatred;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of love;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of care;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of peace;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of smokers!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of businesses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of harlots;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of wise people;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of idiots!
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of gold;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of cocoa;
Whose country is this?
It is a alnd full of crabs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of evil;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of rainfalls;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of ants;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of horses;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of pigs;
Whose country is this?
It is a land full of statues;
Whose country is this?
it is a land full of birds;
And so on, and so forth!
Because nature had made them so as we see them around us,
But the wise and fool live together on this earth.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Million-Pound-Semi-Detached (Demo Recording)
Haven't we come a long way
From newly-weds in our bed-sitter flat?
We skimped and scraped every penny
For a down payment on our semi-detached.
New towns for all the young hopefuls,
A garden suburb with mortgage attached,
Oh, look at us now, sale all agreed, now it's time to exchange the contracts
With the people who sold us a million-pound semi.
Straight out of national service,
Demob suits and short back and sides,
And saw the bomb sites turned air-raid shelters,
Where their families lived all of their lives.
Then the nation built them a utopia,
With pebbledash on the outside, oh,
Look at them now, they've come a long way, they are affluent and bursting with pride.
Soon we'll be sitting inside that million-pound semi-detached,
Detached, in our million-pound semi-detached.
Looking back at the past of this million-pound semi.
Two up two down, a back garden, that was the dream,
Two kids, a cat and a dog, that was the scheme.
Then the kids both grew up and got married and moved out of home,
Then we were strangers again, together alone.
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone in our million-pound semi-detached?
They're all taking early retirement, the sum total of all of their lives.
Now the country is fat with inflation, immigration has helped us survive.
Once an Englishman's home was his castle,
Now it's a freehold investment to buy, oh,
Look at us now, our debts are all paid, and the Empire has really struck back.
We're the proud owners of a one-million-pound semi-detached,
So detached in our million-pound semi-detached.
A new generation is buying and starting anew,
And learning by all their mistakes the way people do.
Like all the young hopefuls we're buying the future from you,
We hope that one day we'll understand what you've both been through.
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone, in our million-pound semi-detached?
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone, in our million-pound semi-detached?
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Home Sweet Home
Met this girl called josephine and took her up on my machine
We had a little fun and now we got a little one
Had to get married, being chased out of town
Found ourselves a place to live, we put all our money down
Call it home sweet home, home sweet home
Eleven floors up in a tower block
Happy just to have a home
Ive gone and changed the lock on our home
Nothing really worked out right, things got broke,
They stayed that way
None of our friends came around at night and little sam got
No place to play
Weve got to get out of here, bill she said Ive been telling
You all the while
When I came home from work that night shed jumped out the
Window with our chiled
From our home sweet home, home sweet home
Just a place to take a rest, just a place ot make our nest
-- we call it our home
When the insurance money came through seemed dirty didnt
Know what to do
Took the cash went down the casino, down on the wheel
On the double
And I won, oh yes I won, like I never won before
Bought myself a country house with an antique carved
Oak door
It was home sweet home, home sweet home
Just a place to lay our head think of all those things we said
About in our home sweet home.
song performed by by Peter Gabriel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Daguerrotype
In the dark room of severe crises
It's is an early kind of photograph for the Exhibition.
And it takes a certain time,
But be confident and give your full support to get the finish off.
Probably this could be one of the best sepia photographs
That would hang in the White(boarding) House.
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Full Of You
Cardboard boxes on the floor
They contain memories and so much more
Black and white photographs
Faded now but I remember how we laughed
Theres nothing left for me to do
Ive an empty house, full of you
Pour myself a glass of wine
Let it breathe but I dont give it too much time
Take another and set it down
I kid myself theres nobody else around
Theres nothing left for me to do
Ive an empty glass, full of you
But let me tell you baby
I cant fight the feeling
I never stopped believing
You were coming back to me
I hear footsteps by the door
Could it be theres nothing else that I want more
There you stand in front of me
I see your face my heart has wings you set me free
Theres nothing left for me to do
Now my empty heart, is full of you
But let me tell you baby
I cant fight the feeling
I never stopped believing
You were coming back to me
Let me tell you darling
Never did I doubt you
I cant live without you
Its so good youre back with me
song performed by by Rick Astley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Million-pound-semi-detached
Havent we come a long way
From newly-weds in our bed-sitter flat?
We skimped and scraped every penny
For a down payment on our semi-detached.
New towns for all the young hopefuls,
A garden suburb with mortgage attached,
Oh, look at us now, sale all agreed, now its time to exchange the contracts
With the people who sold us a million-pound semi.
Straight out of national service,
Demob suits and short back and sides,
And saw the bomb sites turned air-raid shelters,
Where their families lived all of their lives.
Then the nation built them a utopia,
With pebbledash on the outside, oh,
Look at them now, theyve come a long way, they are affluent and bursting with pride.
Soon well be sitting inside that million-pound semi-detached,
Detached, in our million-pound semi-detached.
Looking back at the past of this million-pound semi.
Two up two down, a back garden, that was the dream,
Two kids, a cat and a dog, that was the scheme.
Then the kids both grew up and got married and moved out of home,
Then we were strangers again, together alone.
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone in our million-pound semi-detached?
Theyre all taking early retirement, the sum total of all of their lives.
Now the country is fat with inflation, immigration has helped us survive.
Once an englishmans home was his castle,
Now its a freehold investment to buy, oh,
Look at us now, our debts are all paid, and the empire has really struck back.
Were the proud owners of a one-million-pound semi-detached,
So detached in our million-pound semi-detached.
A new generation is buying and starting anew,
And learning by all their mistakes the way people do.
Like all the young hopefuls were buying the future from you,
We hope that one day well understand what youve both been through.
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone, in our million-pound semi-detached?
Look at us now, what are we like,
Sitting alone, in our million-pound semi-detached?
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sunburned Country (feat. Keith Urban)
I carry her with me (Ah)
I carry her pride (Yeah yeah)
Whenever I speak her name
My soul it comes alive
She taught me to be strong (oh)
She taught me to fight
And I am who I am today
Because she raised me right
Yes it is
Chorus:
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery (oh)
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
Yeah....Yey,Yey,Yey...
Ooh
The creaks and the rivers
The dust and the mud (ooh dust and the mud)
All of us understand
This land gets in your blood
Yes it does
The sight of the blue gums
And black cockatoos
White snow Kosciusko
Red rock Uluru
Sing it one more time
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
Yeah....Yey,Yey,Yey...
Oh yeah...
We've always been humble (Oh yeah)
Too scared to be proud (Yes we have)
I think it's time that
We all stand and say that
We love our home out loud
Sunburned country
I'm proud to say that's sweet our home
In a sunburned country
That's always gonna be my home
Yeah
In a sunburned country
Her magic and her mystery
In a sunburned country
Forever will be home to me
Yeah that's where my heart is truely free
Yes it is
I love all the people
I love all the sounds
Sleeping under a tin roof
With a hard rain coming down
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Home To You
Heart is feeling like a sunbeam
In a distant land
I am soaring cross the surface
Coming home to you
You are far away from me
I’m holding like a song
Love song in the tailing wind
Coming home to thee
Sunshine in the window glass
Face in golden light
Planet surface under me
Flying home to you
See the home in hearting sound
See you there for me
Feel the distant starry sky
Sailing home to you
Wind is tugging at the wings
Banking on the breeze
On the back of bird in sky
Soaring home to thee
Bird is flying to the place
Of planet earthing line
Moving to the grounding place
Moving home to you
Landing on the tar place run
Sinking on the land
I am here my beauty one
Coming home to you
Heart is pounding, you are there
On the surface place
Heart is soaring like a bird
Beating home to you
Hand is stretching out to you
You your gentle touch
Feel it burning on my skin
Holding home to you
Arms around me, round me here
Body holding firm
Spirit soaring like a sail
You are here with me
Walking to the home place laughter
Hands in moving rhyme
You are with me, you are here
I am home with you.
poem by Jonathan Drane
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bo Weevil
You may talk about the ladies
The ladies of your own
These boweevils they'll rub you up at home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
The first time I seen a bo weevil
He was sitting on the stair
The next time I seen a boweevil
He had his own family there
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
The farmer he took the boweevil
And put him on the ice
The boweevil said to the farmer
You treat me mighty nice
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright now this next verse
Is about myself, and when im done I hope
You'll all sing along with me on 'he's looking for a home'
I said if anybody asks you people
Who sang you this song
You tell 'em its Jackie White
He's just been here and gone
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
song performed by by White Stripes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Independent Woman....
we are in this house
that from our sweat built
there are only two of us
in this house
which we have not really
called as home,
something's missing
you give me a hint
not the glass window or
the ceiling fan,
i know it but how can i
tell you?
i won't tell, it will hurt you,
we continue living
somehow
just the two of us in this house
we have our own careers
and every morning we rush to go on our different ways
the night is the only place
of our tryst
we manage to spend time for love
we sleep together and share
what we can
there will be a time when this house shall fall
because it is not a home for us all
there will be one morning when you will finally leave
and take away everything from me
and then i will write it on the wall
this house is never a home,
she never wanted a child to bear.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Half Blooded Brothers
You my blood half or full were brothers, regardless of what you do to each other, you my brother half or full, .
We keep each other good, you my brother half or full. We take care of each other, because we brothers half or full.
Imma stop trippin, it'll take a while, because im use to bullshittin and prickin, but you my brother half or full.
Stick together we will stay alive, all the bullshit I said, I've been a asshole, shit who hasn't, but you my brother half or full and I guess that's what family does.
Arguments and verbal brutality towards one another is what we do, because we will always be brothers half or full. Blood half or full, it doesn't matter, because we are brothers till the end of time, your my brother half or full.
poem by Arthur V. Miller III
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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For Mom
Old sepia photos…
Tear on cheek
Catch in my breast
Chin in my hand
Winsome smile on my lips
Eyes closed in retrospect
Warm glow arising
Sadness, gladness
Happiness, madness
Chaos and caring
Teaching and sharing
Bad times, good times
Warm breast, soft lap
Strong hands and wrinkles
Loving eyes, weary sighs
Giving…always giving
Graying hair
Being there
Warm hand on my brow
Old sepia photos…
Of her and dad
Newly married
Both just kids themselves
Hard to imagine them
The times and changes
The selflessly given support
The daily sacrifice
Tear on my cheek
Catch in my breast
Eyes tightly closed in retrospect…
And respect….
For mom
poem by David Whalen
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Welcome Home
In my life
I have seen
Far away places
Wild and serene
But nothing I saw
Prepared me for
The mat on the floor
Saying "welcome home"
Time flies
See the moon rise
As I'm makin' my way
Through another long day
But I'll go
To a place I know
In my heart I know
There's just no place
Like home
Welcome home
Welcome home
To that place
That's safe and warm
Always a shelter
From the storm
I'm going home
Welcome home
Roll out the welcome mat
For me!
I'm goin' home
Sometimes
I remember
All the days I never knew
If I would ever make it through
But just when
I'd give up again
I'd remember when the days
Were stormy
Home was always
Waitin' for me
Sayin'
Welcome home
Welcome home
Where there will always be
A welcoming light on
Just for me
When I go home
Welcome home
No place
That I would rather be
Than goin' home
In my heart I know
That someday when my time
Is drawing near
I'm gonna hear
Welcome home
Welcome home
Where there will always be
Somebody waiting
There for me
When I go home
Home sweet home
Everyone's smilin' just for me
When I go home
In my heart I see
Somebody waiting
There for me
Welcome home
Welcome home
It looks like a
Starlight symphony
I'm goin' home
song performed by by Barry Manilow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Home, sweet home is home with daddy!
I look at the familiar house I call home
I am back home, sweet home after the journey
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home
There's no place like home, oh, there's no place like home!
Home, sweet home is home with daddy!
I look at Daddy's children, full of expectations
The young man with soiled hands, still jumping on Daddy
The young lady wanting to tell Daddy all the stories of school
It does not matter that Daddy is tired! Daddy is always daddy
Home, sweet home is home with daddy!
I know I have to travel again from home tomorrow
I may go to the nice places, be they palaces or hotels
Marble floors sparkling with reflections of cleanliness
But they are not as homely as home with daddy
Home, sweet home is home with daddy!
I look at everybody wanting to know about the trip of daddy
Everybody wants to know what daddy has brought
Everybody is happy to see daddy home
Daddy is always strong, no tiredness even when tired
Home, sweet home is home with daddy!
poem by Nyota Yasulwe
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Old Photographs
I sit and look at photographs of relations that used to be,
Some I remember from childhood, some related more distantly,
Their faces often smiling, or serious and stern,
Some looking very peaceful and gentle in their turn.
There are a few in sepia tint, but a lot in black and white,
And looking at their expressions, one does start wondering quite
What it would be like to meet them, and ask them how things were,
When they were living in those days, to me it's just a blur.
Work then was very arduous, long hours and little pay,
They did'nt have the 'luxuries' that we expect today,
Up with the lark, weather fine or foul, cold or sweltering heat,
Walking many miles to work, gathering blisters on their feet.
They had no central heating to keep away the bitter chill,
And they had no reliable medicine, if they were taken ill,
There was no NHS* to care, they were out there on their own,
And if they really needed help, they didn't have a phone.
Washing by hand was physically hard, when winter started to bite,
The wash tub and the mangle, were really no delight,
They must have been much stronger and tougher, in those days,
But even so, they must have been worn out in many ways.
They didn't have the appliances, to help them get things done,
Their daily chores took up the day, and I'm sure that was no fun,
They went to bed, when the dark set in, unless with candles lit,
They would gather together around the fire, and talk a little bit.
Knitting, crochet and embroidery were for women folk to do,
During the spare time that they had, perhaps they enjoyed it too,
For there were no television sets, but a piano was highly treasured,
With a pair of hands upon the keys, with what songs they could be pleasured.
And then along come the marching soldiers, of the first world war,
Did they have any inkling, of what there was in store,
Their once so steady lifestyle, turned so upside down,
Bombs descending on the city, devastation all around.
The twenty-five years later, a world war once again,
To have to go once more and suffer, the worry and the pain,
The having to begin to put, their hearts back into living,
And try to not be bitter, and to think about forgiving.
So these photos tell a story, and if I could only seek
To know just how they lived their lives, if they could only speak,
I'd be so interested to know, and if they could only walk
Straight out of the photographs, then we could begin our talk.
poem by Ernestine Northover
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sunset Heighting Aire
Barley sixteen and half unseen,
Who in battle engaged and never gave up,
When a sunset heights the air,
Tree's swaying, standing bare,
Like in that there,
Place of feelings where-
A sunset heights the are
Half empty filling up the day,
Empty empty full of rays,
A sunset heights the air,
The menacing mighty wind where,
This there place of feelings was,
Half empty, half full.
poem by Rebecca Stansfield
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Take Me Home, Country Roads
(bill danoff/taffy nivert/john denver)
Country roads,take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia,mountain mama
Take me home,country roads
Almost heaven,west virginia
Blue ridge mountain,shenandoe river
Life is old there,older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Growing like the breeze
Country roads,take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia,mountain mama
Take me home,country roads
All my memories gather round her
Mine is lady,stranger to blue water
Dark and dusty painted on the sky
Misty taste of moonshine
Teardrop in my eye
Country roads,take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia,mountain mama
Take me home,country roads
I hear her voice in the morning
Now she calls me
The radio reminds me of my home far away
And driving down the road I get a feeling
That I shouldve been home yesterday,yesterday
Country roads,take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia,mountain mama
Take me home,country roads
Country roads,take me home
To the place I belong
West virginia,mountain mama
Take me home,country roads
Take me home,country roads
song performed by by Olivia Newton-John
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Country Road
Take to the highway wont you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same
Mamma dont understand it
She wants to know where Ive been
Id have to be some kind of natural born fool
To want to pass that way again
But I could feel it
On a country road
Sail on home to jesus wont you good girls and boys
Im all in pieces, you can have your own choice
But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
And theyre coming to set me free
I dont know nothing bout the why or when
But I can tell that its bound to be
Because I could feel it, child, yeah
On a country road
I guess my feet know where they want me to go
Walking on a country road
Take to the highway wont you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child
Mamma dont understand it
She wants to know where Ive been
Id have to be some kind of natural born fool
To want to pass that way again
But I could feel it
On a country road
Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down
Walk on down, walk on down a country road
Country road
Walking on a country road
song performed by by James Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Home is much more
I thought of home
As a dwelling house
Where I could lay naked without a blouse
I thought of home
As a dwelling house
Playing cat and mouse with my spouse
But home is much more!
Much more than a place you lay your head
O! where do I begin
Home is within
Home is deep rooted in ones soul
Home is empty if your heart has a large hole
Home is rebirth from childbirth to death
Home is when you make peace with thyself
And return back to earth!
I thought of home
As a bed with a respectable foam
I thought of home
As a place we feel we belong
Recharging our bodies to be strong
I thought of home
As living in no chronological order
With father, mother, sister or brother
I thought of home
Associating it with family
Affiliating it with ones country
Contemplating with the idea
As where one spends Christmas, Easter and New Year
O! dear
But home is much more!
O! where do I begin
Home is within
Home is thy inside twin
Your spiritual interior environment
No one dares enter without thy consent!
Copyright 2006 - Sylvia Chidi
www.sylviachidi.co.uk
poem by Sylvia Chidi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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