Boreal - May 11 2023

 

Boreal

May 11 2023

This sense of place

that persists

no matter how long since you left,

as if bred in the bone

imprinted in your DNA.

The accent is gone,

even though, to local ears

something might seem off.

You dress better,

or at least appropriately.

And like anything that becomes familiar,

the landscape

that once felt foreign

you don't notice anymore.

But when you return

you're instantly at home.

The light.

The rocky soil

and stunted trees,

the harsh geography.

Fresh water everywhere,

and too much space

for so few people.

Even though all your family

have also moved away

and few friends remain.

The power of landscape

in and of itself.

They talk about blood and soil

belonging

attachment.

And you

the idealist and cosmopolitan

who embraces all humanity

and was more than happy to leave,

yet cannot cleanse yourself

of this particularity.

Where you were born and raised,

your people buried.

As you too will be;

under a tree

in a shallow grave

in its hard stony soil.

The home

you thought you'd escaped

but really never left.