Far from home.

after Psalm 137




Home, home, we are far from home,
we who fled on foot with nothing;
we who dodged through empty shells,
the soldiers and their bullets; we
who crowded onto leaky boats in search
of a miracle. Home, home, how
do we sing, now, the songs of home?

pause for silence
Home, home, we are far from home,
we who hear a dream beckoning, we
the curious, adventurous, the ludicrously
rich with learning and opportunity. Home,
home, how will we sing our songs, returning,
how will we be, home again?

pause for silence
Home, home, we are far from home,
we the first born generations, caught
between the wistful yearnings, awkward
returnings of parents, and the somehow
strange but yet so familiar here where we
do not belong. Home, home, what songs
will take us home?

pause for silence
Home, home, we are far from home
right here on soil no more our own.
Dispossessed of home land, uncaressed by
mother’s hand, silenced and unseen.
Home, home, what were our songs … ?