The ache in our hearts that never seems to go away

Both picture above and poem below were originally posted by Martin Taylor in KFR!

This poem was written by a Rhodesian friend of mine and each time I read it, the claw of sadness tightens around my heart. I would like to share it with you because I am sure that many of you would relate to it as I do. It's called "Homeland".

Within my soul, within my mind,

There lies a place I cannot find.

Home of my heart. Land of my birth.

Smoke-coloured stone and flame-coloured earth.

Electric skies. Shivering heat.

Blood-red clay beneath my feet.

At night when finally alone,

I close my eyes - and I am home.

I kneel and touch the blood-warm sand

And feel the pulse beneath my hand

Of an ancient life too old to name,

In an ancient land too wild to tame.

How can I show you what I feel?

How can I make this essence real?

I search for words in dumb frustration

To try and form some explanation,

But how can heart and soul be caught

In one-dimensional written thought?

If love and longing are a "fire"

And man "consumed" by his desire,

Then this love is no simple flame

That mortal thought can hold or tame.

As deep within the earth's own core

The love of home burns evermore.

But what is home? I hear them say,

This never was yours anyway.

You have no birthright to this place,

Descendant from another race.

An immigrant? A pioneer?

You are no longer welcome here.

Whoever said that love made sense?

"I love" is an "imperfect" tense.

To love in vain has been man's fate

From history to the present date.

I have no grounds for dispensation,

I know I have no home or nation.

For just one moment in the night

I am complete, my soul takes flight.

For just one moment.... then it's gone

and I am once again undone.

Never complete. Never whole.

White Skin and an African soul.

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