Homecoming

The laughter is coming back again!
All these months of rain and sullen clouds have
Migrated away from my patch of sky and I am
Finally taking the laughter out again! I shall peg them 
To a clothes line, see them soar white linen flags 
Waving to the drifting whisps of cotton up high, beckoning:
Come join! In the grass, big as the sky, 
I beam back at the sun: there is nothing stopping it now!

And how I miss the pain of happiness, doubling over 
Into a mimosa’s hug at the easiest jokes and out of 
Brea – oh how the world shakes with mirth.
I miss the wind braiding it’s long fingers into my hair 
And the flowers blooming every step of the way higher 
And higher it takes me till I am seeing stars and get
Giddy from the thin air.

And I miss looking into eyes set alight with fireflies 
And promises of the good in the world and my heart 
Squeeze when the feeling is overwhelming and I
Want to hold them close and whisper a secret just to 
See their stupid smile again. To be content with this,
No matter how fleeting or undeserving.

And I have missed this – oh how long I have waited 
For the laughter to return. Now I see the first birds appearing 
In their arrows, pointing without fail towards home, gentle couriers
Or celestial guides to navigate to this moment.
In their birdsong, promises to those far away, and lost 
In homesickness: This is the last lap of the migration. Calling:
Come back
Home.

The skyline slowly floods with light 

And the white foams of spring.