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Amandalea Rodriguez Noel's avatar

This poem is a portal, placing me there along the water, in touch with my own nostalgia and grief. Like the lament that rises up from time to time, even in unexpected places, this piece is a new friend I can come to again and again; a place to hold space for all those unexpressed longings. Thanks for writing and sharing it with us.

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Margaret Magarey's avatar

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” C.S. Lewis.

These are the words I was reminded of when I read “homesick for a place I have never been.”

Just a thought.

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Brooke Shorey's avatar

wow.

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Regina McIntosh's avatar

So beautiful! I so love this!

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Lori Mast's avatar

So good. Thank you for sharing 🧡

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Anna Musico's avatar

Beautiful!

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Debi Hassler-Never Forsaken's avatar

Vivid, touching, beautiful.

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Annelise Roberts's avatar

Thank you 💛

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Sheila Dougal's avatar

I feel every bit of this! So much of life is needing to wash my face and leave the sackcloth behind while I do the necessary living in front of me.

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Malinda Just's avatar

I love this! Yes, very much yes, to your opening question.

also

"And while I wouldn’t

go back, I don’t know what to

do with the memories or the

parts of me, seemingly attached

to them; now ghosts, dust, sand."

-- I'm not sure what to do with the memories either...I can't quite put them away enough to fully move on in a few specific contexts that arise from living a long stretch in a small town --

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Jody L. Collins's avatar

A poet will find a poem anywhere..... this recollection is remarkable, Rachel. And so very true....

I have a quote in my commonplace book from W. Somerset Maugham and your reflection reminded me of it:

"Men and women are not only themselves; they are also the region in which they were born, the city apartment or farm in which they learned to walk, the games they played as children... the schools they attended...the poems they read, and the God they believed in." From 'The Razor's Edge.'

I know you're also pondering the loss of things in the past that cannot be recovered and over which we should grieve--something I can relate to--but also trying to communicate what it's like to be missing the DNA of where we grew up--So Cal I believe. ((waxing too poetic here, sorry. your words have prompted it.))

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Rachel Joy Welcher's avatar

NorCal, and yes!

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Melissa Robbins's avatar

Yes

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