BY THIS LONG ROAD THAT’S LEADING ME HOME

By this long road that’s leading me home
I have squandered the last of my lines;
Is it not final time that my tines
Score a “no” in the brackish sea foam?

Two small runnels run out as one tear,
Shall it add to the sea any hope?
Will my tear drown in folds of my coat
In the essence so salt and so sheer?

Or, grown turquoise — a trinket so cheap —
Will it flash on a neck? Who could tell?
Anyone ever shall know it well
How the path back home slips, veiled deep —

Like the thread Ariadne once threw.
Letting go — holding fast? I am spent.
Turn I back —salty figures I band —
Will you be scared of seeing them too?

I once asked God to grant me His shield,
But did “we” ever pray as but one?
Did we stand when the battle began?
Once a tear breaks its guard, all is sealed —

We shall fall like two stones to the floor:
Only dead armor’s destined to sink;
Life is sworn still to struggle and think.
Trust me: long as my heart keeps its roar,

You may sleep at my side without roam,
Without grievance or sorrow laid bare.
Trust me — pleading for this is despair
On the road… very long… leading home.