THE OLD HOMEPLACE
I follow the trail to the old house
seems no one has been here for years
get snagged on the leg by a briar
that to my eyes brings tears.
Stepping ever so quietly
on the leaves under my feet
my eyes catch sight of the place
almost hidden behind the trees.
I stop to catch my breath
admire a rose in full bloom
right in the middle of a thorn patch
soft and yellow like the moon.
Years have passed since I've been here
not a whole lot left to see
but how it takes me back to those days
when this house was a mansion to me.
I can hear echoes of children
playing under the big maple tree
I vision my mom cooking dinner
dad's working in the field by the creek.
The old dinner bell is ringing
in my mind I hear it so well
I shake my head to clear this vision
and slowly come back to myself.
I turn around to leave
but suddenly feel a chill
I look over my shoulder for one last look
and know their spirits here still live.
THE RETURN
I stare at the remains of the house
charred reminders of years gone
wondering why I ever came back
to a lifetime of memories reduced to black.
Caught by the sun in a tangle of grass
almost hidden, an old piece of glass
a burst of tears as I discover
fragments of a dish that belonged to my mother.
Time the cruelest element
has destroyed the past I had known
for here there is no resemblance
to my beautiful childhood home.
I will leave this place with no backward look
I will just fill pages of a family book
with stories and memories of how life was then
for I know I will never be back again.
