Heather Poem by John Fenton Mcleish

Scotland is my home
the country where I was born
from which I was torn
i'll never see her again
my brethren, family, friends
I long to return
missing the bens and the burns
green pines and the ferns

o'er the sea I did sail
old man wi' many a tale
Bangkok, Tokyo
jungle, orange desert glow
'cross oceans blow
for a long way I have come
freezing cald te boiling sun
travel has changed me
everything I did see
riches, poverty
for I have wandered through space-time
never leaving my own mind
mosquitoes snakes flies
gangsters machine guns and knives
sweet ladies and wine

when I dream o' Scottish streets
so sad that I cry and greet
where do I belong
for so many years roaming
I, the alien
immigrant does sow his seeds
conqueror, a new race breeds

snow covered heather
I will love you forever
always together
your pulse resonates in thee
a highland spirit so free
my sanctuary
does pump through these arteries
a lost ancestry
an island so far away
through the mist o' memory
I hope and I pray
wishing that maybe one day
in your heart i'll lay