You Can't Go Home Poem by Emilou Shumake

Driving back to empty bedrooms
Shadow pictures on the wall
A worn trodden pathway
Going straight down the hall

Echo sounds of long lost laughter
Slamming doors and running feet
Close my eyes for just that second
Lest my younger self I meet

Sunlight streams from out the window
Dancing dustmotes in the air
Traveling through the many memories
When I had so little care

Never thought there'd be a moment
Didn't know that time could bring
Such an avalance unfettered
Of so many childhood things

Raking leaves that left their branches
Chopping wood that sound I hear
Whispering whispering can you feel it
Is it more than you can bear

Chairs that now are always empty
That old coat left by the door
It's so heavy with the longings
It should fall right to the floor

Longings left behind so careless
Of those times I didn't know
That someday here I'd be standing
Looking back before I go