Belonging Poem by Alla Bozarth

The small plot of ground
on which you were born
cannot be expected
to stay forever
the same.

Earth changes,
and home
becomes different
places.

You took flesh
from clay
but the clay
did not come
from just one
place.

To feel alive,
important, and safe,
know your own waters
and hills, but know
more.

You have stars
in your bones
and oceans
in blood.

You have opposing
terrain in each eye.

You belong to the land
and sky of your first cry,
you belong to infinity.

This poem is in the books Lifelines: Threads of Grace through Seasons of
Change by Alla Renee Bozarth, Sheed and Ward imprint of Rowman and
Littlefield Publishing Company copyright 1995; Stars in Your Bones by Alla
Bozarth, Julia Barkley and Terri Hawthorne, North Star Press of St. Cloud
1990, distributed by the poet; This Mortal Marriage: Poems of Love,
Lament and Praise by Alla Renee, iUniverse 2003; audio cassettes Dance
for Me When I Die and Reading Out Loud to God by Alla Renée Bozarth
Wisdom House 1985 and 1990. All rights reserved.