Hiraeth

A longing to return to a place I think I knew,

Even though I’ve never been there.

A desire to walk back into your arms,

Even though we’ve never met.

A want to sing songs that I remember,

Even though I’ve never heard them.

 

There are flowers I can see

Which I’ve never touched.

There are trees I’ve hugged

Which I’ve never reached for.

There are names I hear,

Which I’ve never called.

 

Away from this madness,

There is a sanity which I yearn for.

Away from this hubbub,

There is a stillness which I look for.

Away from these possessions

There are treasures which I would own.

Away from this loneliness

There is a union I would reach.

Away from this horde

There is a face I want to see.

 

When even childhood is a dream,

There is a maturity I would attain.

When even happiness is an illusion,

There is a reality I would embrace.

 

There are fields I’ve never walked,

But I want to see us there.

There are forests I’ve never entered,

But I want to hear us laugh there.

There are wines I’ve never tasted,

But I want to taste us drunk on them.

There are words I’ve never said,

But I want to feel us smile at them.

There are beginnings I’ve never recalled,

But I want us to imagine them.

There are endings I’ve never glimpsed

But I want us to live them.

Sh

Hiraeth - (noun) A homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.