Home Ground

For Margaret

John Long

The house and land

of childhood

meant home to me.

Every inch of house

the acre of land

I knew completely,

intimately.

The surrounding woods

and fields

still imprinted on me.

Now, stronger than

building or land or possessions,

home is connection.

Home is where you are.

That simple, that complex.

Like loons calling across

a lake at nighttime,

song birds in trees,

coyotes howling in the dark,

we are animals, checking constantly:

Are you here?

Yes, I’m here.

Are you?

Yes.