The world is awakening.

As we rise from our slumber, it appears that we are each walking on our own path, searching, pining, yearning for home.

This poem is for every one of us finding our way—it is a reminder that we are all in this adventure together, looking for our incorporeal home.

Regardless of what it means to you, this poem is a celebration for these moments when the wind gushes into our lungs and we start to breathe again, for the first time.

Mama
I am coming home
I know I was gone for long
We all forgot,
Mama

But one day
When the fire lived by the salt of the sea
And I was with some strangers
Their olive skin reflecting the flames
Into my eyes
It burned and I snapped them shut

And when I could no longer see
My body began to carry me
And I was spinning
Whirling
They said, we were dancing

The waves washed against me
My fingers were twitching
My sisters and brothers now
Encircle me
And we were moving
So wild, so free, so within,
That we really had to
Breathe
For the first time
In a long time

And as the wind gushed into my lungs
It was so sudden
So harsh
A twig snapped
Beneath my feet

And I remembered
We remembered,
Mama
We are coming home.

Author: Regina Toon

Editor: Renée Picard

Image: Rachel Crowe/ Unsplash