I feel lost, confused, hoplessly in despair,

I miss my life, I miss my home,

I miss the sights, the people, the land,

I see it all in my dreams,

Welcome me back with outstretched arms.

One day I’ll go back,

Not the young confused person I was,

Older now though not much in years,

Maybe a bit wiser,

But then, maybe not.

At the end,

When the Counter of the Scrolls,

The Keeper of the Gate,

Tally's my days,

Will I be found wanting,

For this insubstantial fleeting life?

I’ve loved and lost,

But hope to find again.

I’ve made mistakes,

Burned many bridges,

But I’ve learnt,

And it's not over yet!

Further up and further in I go.

To walk this path, this life I chose,

And once again to the land,

That calls to me,

In flickering insubstantial dreams,

That I call home.

The people have gone or changed,

I hardly recognise them now,

Nor the sights that were once so familiar,

Tarnished now.

No longer the shining glory of my innocent youth,

I look on with a critical eye.

But the land, The land is still the same,

Unshakeable, unmoveable but by Her own desire,

She welcomes me back,

Embraces me,

Comforts me,

And I know I am home.

--Natalie Wood '99