Welcome Home Poem by Roger Hudson

The corner by the window
Was the only place
To site the beds
In the new house.

The bedroom wasn't big
The built-in cupboard
With the hot water cylinder
Ruled out the other corner

So when I wake
To early light
Eyelids flicker open
And close
And open
I see
Straight out the window
To green
Different greens
Grass and shrubs
In our long narrow garden
Our neighbour's long narrow garden
To the row of trees
In their neighbour's long narrow garden
stirring in the breeze
gently
waving in the wind
graciously
shaking in the storm
furiously

Raising my head a little
I wake fully
To light, to colour
To share the colours of their flowers
Hear the melodies of birds
Trilling the dawn chorus
Greeting the sun
Of summer
Or just the grey day
Of an Irish winter
And
Comfortable
Warm
I feel I've come home