An Open Plain: Two Poems for Australia
The heart wanders where my feet cannot
Had the world worked as it was meant to, I would be in Australia by now. Instead, my two attempts at returning have been met with flight cancellations that gave me a great deal of time to reflect on what I had missed most about where I’ve come from. These two poems are the result, one for each thwarted journey…
I. No False Promises
I’ve seen it now from every angle,
From each degree
Of relative uncertainty,
And I cannot really say
Where the world is taking me.
Staying here or going there,
I can’t be absolutely fair
And give a stronger answer,
A response that doesn’t pander
To what you’d like to hear —
If it comes to that,
The simple fact
Is that I’ll likely be
Neither here nor there.
It’s not that I want to tear
Away from this specific fabric,
Weave in another rubric,
But I can’t yet build a house of bricks
Until I wash my toes in sand
And warm my face in sun;
Until I return to the land
Where my mind has always run.
