The ground beneath my feet

Years ago, I left this land,
This shelter of my hearth,
The laughter of my loved ones,
Drawn I was by the rainbow
On the distant horizon.

The rainbow glittered
With the brightness of a million suns,
Reflecting dreams of a myriad colours
Concealed in my eyes,
And drawn I was,
Into a spider's web of deceit and desires,
Slowly, inevitably, inexorably.

Restless
My feet trudged the ground,
In search of an elusive horizon
That receded like an ebbing tide,
Just when I had it in my grasp,
Almost.
Till bone weary I opened my eyes,
To found myself in a strange land,
With strangers all around,
And only my fading memories
For company.

The horizon was still as far away,
As on the day the journey began,
The contours of my dreams
Unfamiliar still,
As a world seen through smudged glasses,
The rainbow had long disappeared,
Leaving behind
A lonely, dark and starless night.
At the centre of the web
Lay just the shell of hollow dreams.

So with lead in my heart,
My steps I retraced,
To where the journey had once begun,
My patch of land, my wicker chair,
A half remembered pair of eyes,
Drew me back through endless miles.

Till one day I was back to where I belonged,
To this corner of the earth I can call my own,
To my own four walls, to all I possessed,
To the waiting smile which is mine alone.
I sleep content, none can deny all these to me,
This ground, this hearth, this piece of sky,
Till I pass them on to a child of my blood,
And myself pass on with a gentle sigh.