F- Off COVID, I Want To Go Home

I have lived in London for over 25 years, but there is still another place I call home. And now, with COVID restricting travel, I have not been there for over a year. The longest time I have ever gone without going home.

So, while I can’t go there, here’s an ode to my hometown.

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When I was eighteen, I couldn’t wait to leave you behind

I thought you were boring and predictable

Full of old people with narrow mindsets stuck to their own ways

What you offered was not enough for me

I wanted to see the world and experience what life had to offer outside your small town boundaries

But years of living away have taught me your beauty

They have taught me what a priviledge it is to call you my hometown

You are still the same old quiet town by the sea

You have not changed, but I have

And the older, wiser me has learnt to appreciate everything you are

When I was younger, you were a safe haven to grow in

Where else could we, as young as seven, sleep in tents in our unwalled gardens

And wander, in the middle of the night, unsupervised to the nearby playground

Where we played on the swings as the sun came up creeping back to the tent before our parents noticed we were gone

I didn’t realise then what a priviledge it was to grow up in a small town where everyone knew each other

I definitely didn’t appreciate it when the local busybodies

Never able to keep their noses out of other people’s business

Rushed to tell my mum I had been seen drunk on a Friday night

I hated them then and I hated you

And those were the times when I counted the days waiting to leave you and your smallminded people behind

So as soon as the opportunity presented itself

I packed my packs and left without a second thought

The world was waiting for me with a myriad of opportunities

And I was happy to answer its call

But you never losened your hold of me and even after all these years, I still call you home

Never before have I gone this long without being home

You are the place I need to recharge

The place that comforts and sooths me

When I’m there, I feel at peace and far away from the madness of the world

I never realised just how much I needed you until I was not able to visit you

I last walked your streets at Christmas 2019

How strange it is to look back now

And realise how naive we were thinking this virus we kept hearing about

Would not affect our lives

I bid goodbye to you and friends and family, thinking I’d be back again in a few short months

But COVID had other plans

It spread across the world like wildfire

And we all had to cancel our plans

As countries closed the borders to all but essential travellers

And now it has been over a year since I last felt the soil of my hometown beneath my feet

I so long to walk your streets again and see the familiar places

In my dreams I spend hours on your beaches

Or hangout in the evenings with friends

Smiling and laughing once again

When I was young I counted the days until I could leave, now I’m counting the days until I can come back

Each day that passes I miss you more

And I cannot wait until I can board a plane and head home

When I can sit in mum and dad’s garden after a sauna

And crack open a beer

So f-off COVID and let me go home again