Define H O M E

I dreamt about you for as long as the mind would let me.

I prayed for your arrival, wept for your warmth, continued to look for you - despite lost efforts.

For awhile, you were always places.

Mountains, that needed climbing.

Gardens, that needed tending.

A river, calling out for a wade.

Then for much longer, you were things.

A large dark crimson brick fireplace, towering pines reaching for their heavens.

The wrap around porch; that aged wooden swing.

You were the train tracks behind the creek, the bridge below that would rattle off music when she finally made her appearance.

A bank overlooking that same creek.

A thin rope connected to one of the small willows growing;

if I was able to hold on make the climb, it was my only way of seeing out.

Finally, you came to me as a feeling of peace; effortless euphoria.

I realized that you were a place I got to create all on my own.

A familiar knowing, an intangible phenomenon erupting from heart center.

It is boundless safety; a priceless treasure, because you're not just four walls.

You’re the breeze coming off of Mount Baldy.

A toothy grin at sunrise over the Uintas.

The lights’ reflecting off the snowy caps of Alyeska.

Each and every valley I’ve ever settled, all cradled between different peaks.

You are a deep sense of security.

And, it all resides at home, in me.

- they are all home, each one, a perfectly placed piece of 'me'