Somewhere Closer To Near – Home

Somewhere closer to near but far,

I come from new names of old lands,
Oceans, islands, continents,
Snow and sand.

Between the blood spilled
for selfish reasons,
the crucifixion of sheep
as camouflage for our fears;
Home…

The place I come from …

Sometimes its people disappear
with the wind,
Its shape shifts from blinks to tears
And whenever it does so
it turns me into a foreign,
again.

That’s how I get lost;
how I get home;
simply to leave
again.

I come from seashells,
different smells,
Tastes, colors,
Fetishes in the spotlight,
the holy of brothels!


Where I come from…
I sleep naked,
covered by 3 blankets,
waking up sweaty.
I wear boots at the beach,
Slippers at parties
and I’m barefoot in the streets.
Never ugly, nor pretty,
the eccentric, the exotic
Neither usual, nor repugnant,
yet intriguing, deceiving.


The place I come from
is a loop, a pattern in space,
not very different from here,
quite similar actually!
It feels good to be back
for the first time;
Again.

By Caio Leão 

No Creature’s Form

With the wings of an Eagle I cry
Screaming the freedom of wind and sky
Untethered from all land and place
I’m Queen of the unclaimed space

With Chameleon scales, I master disguise
Waiting for my cue with roaming eyes 
Blending to each new culture displayed
As my skin knows no original shade

With a turtle’s dark shell I hide
Holding my emotion protected inside
Come too close and I will retract
To keep my softer sides intact

With a camel’s back and wandering feet
I’m built to travel through the heat
My restless nature drives me on
Till all I’ve been or known is gone

With so many parts and pieces
The more you see the confusion increases
Nothing is simply mine but my name
No creature’s form can I fully claim

by Danae Tanner

Temporarily Permanent

1.
I wrote something today
even though
I had nothing to say
there is too much music here
too many people who say
what I want to say
better than I ever could.

So I find myself
sucked into the information age
and suddenly time means something.
Once upon a time
I had read every book
available to me
but now,
I could never do that.

Once (or twice) there
I went a whole day
without ever looking at a clock.
Time
is just a word there
but here
it is what they (we?) live by.

2.
Someone asked me,
yesterday,
the one question
none of us can answer –
“Where are you from?”
And I wanted to say
“nowhere” or
“everywhere” or
“God” or
“Africa” or 
any number of other things
but suddenly 
I didn’t have the energy 
to explain
again
so I said
“Pennsylvania.”
After all, 
I know people there.
It is as good a place
as any other
for me to pick.

But really,
who I am now
is only a fleeting identity.
Maybe tomorrow
I will be someone else –
speak another language and
claim another place as my hometown,
or maybe I won’t.

But for now, for today,
this is who I am
and what I am
for those who ask me that
(such a stupid question. I am a
person, of course!)
And here I stand
temporarily permanent.

By Bluedarkness

Uniquely Me

I am a confusion of cultures.
Uniquely me.
I think this is good because I can understand the traveler, sojourner, foreigner, the homesickness that comes.
I think this is bad because I cannot be understood by the person who has sown and grown in one place.
They know not the real meaning of homesickness that hits me now and then.
Sometimes I despair of understanding them.
I am an island and a United Nations.
Who can recognize either in me but God?

By Alex Graham James

Restless Blues

lay the line down
just away out of town
another road to wander
freedom is a horizon
ahead of me

some need a companion
urging them on to see
a world that moves in front of them
is just another dream

my feet shuffle restlessly
as soon as the leaves turn
cool autumn breeze tells me
there is somewhere else to be

can’t say I won’t return
but I know I won’t stay
anyplace I am accepted
means I’ve gotten there too late

by Guilty

No Roots – Alice Merton

Alice Merton - No Roots

by Alice Merton

Verse One

I like digging holes and hiding things inside them
When I’ll grow old, I hope I won’t forget to find them
‘Cause I’ve got memories and travel like gypsies in the night


I build a home and wait for someone to tear it down
Then pack it up in boxes, head for the next town running
‘Cause I’ve got memories and travel like gypsies in the night

And a thousand times I’ve seen this road
A thousand times

Chorus

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh


Verse Two

I like standing still, but that’s just a wishful plan
Ask me where I come from, I’ll say a different land
But I’ve got memories and travel like gypsies in the night

I count gates and numbers, then play the guessing game
It’s just the place that changes, the rest is still the same
But I’ve got memories and travel like gypsies in the night

And a thousand times I’ve seen this road
A thousand times

Chorus

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh

Ending

I like digging holes
Hiding things inside them
When I’ll grow old
I won’t forget to find them


I like digging holes
Hiding things inside them
When I’ll grow old
I won’t forget to find them

I’ve got no roots
No roots

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh

I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots, but my home was never on the ground
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh
I’ve got no roots uh uh uh uh