Homeward Bound

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Homeward Bound

Somewhere during the homeward flight the mind
as though on a circus trapeze
swings clear away from the people and places that remained
to the coming days; the mind prepares.

At first they had sunk down into their seats with relief,
eyes glazed, glass in hand,
reliving the daily quest, the jousts with business rivals,
now drifting, drifting behind.

The clouds thicken
and soon cover over the sights they have had to leave:
the great city, its port, its river,
and the towers and domes they rapidly learnt to love.

The new-bought book
lies balanced on their knees; the buzz of voices ignored.
Looking back,
reliving the frenzy of recent days – that’s all they need.

And then, somewhere during the homeward flight,
they start to look ahead:
tentative thoughts of how to follow it up will float
in view; and rumours too of things at home they’ve heard …

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++… just so
when the mule trains came down at last to the sheer
expanse of the sea
and men transferred their goods to the ships with a sigh
and sails were raised with a cheer for the homeward shore

and thoughts would fly on ahead, flying home
to the anxious demeanour
of those who loved them, the smiles and dissembling manner
of those who wished them harm,

and the plans to be laid, and the gains
to be made with their merchandise proudly on show
in city and manor and shire …
++++++++++++then they would dream of home again,
of city … and manor … … and shire … … …    .

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© John Stevens 2014

This completes the sequence of nine poems entitled “The Silk Road” which began with Frequent Flyers – see the post at:

https://johnlooker.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/frequent-flyers/

If you feel interested in reading the poems in order, then start there and move forward using the ‘Next’ button on each page. I’m also producing the poems in pamphlet form which can be downloaded as a PDF file and printed at home – to follow shortly.