Back Home Poem by Linda Hepner

I went back to my house. I thought
the gate and gold forsythia would greet
me and would fill me with
a bitter sweet nostalgia.
I pushed the gate, but it was locked,
my father's nameplate gone,
as was the tree
and in its place, a space.

I went back to my house. I thought
the upstairs curtain where my father stood
parted until he heard
me push the gate; he peered
into the darkness, into the future
where I'd gone away
while he remained
etched into my eyes.

I tried to enter but the path
led to a blank that did not beckon
me, and told of change
inside, some family grown cold,
the kitchen marble, garden paved,
my parents' curtains gone,
and so I turned
away, back in my mind,
back to my home.

LRH
9.12.10