I’ve loved you since my childhood.
I’ll love you till I die.
Your immaterial material being
has made me laugh and cry.
I know each nook and corner,
I’ve walked each street and path.
And though I’ve left in person
I left behind one half.
I catch you in my thoughts
quite often unawares,
no matter where I am
I’m caught up in your snares.
I miss your tree-lined streets,
I miss your chimney smoke,
I miss the fog horns to whose sound
I oftentimes awoke.
I miss your tough, hard people
with their surprising warmth;
their kindly hospitality
made me forget all want.
I miss you; yes, I miss you
wherever else I go;
You have me, I am yours
no matter where I go.
For I cannot forget you!
there’s no home left for me –
I cannot stay with you
nor any other place I see.
The voice of sea gulls screaming,
of factories and fog horns –
the rhythm of my heartbeat;
the voice that calls me home.