I returned in battered boxes,

Wrapped in ‘fragile’ tape,

A roadmap of fine lines

Etched around sleepless eyes.

Shackled by chains of Post Office redirects,

Each address another cryptic clue

In a futile treasure hunt.

I returned to a place I no longer knew,

A city scarred and changed,

A tattered patchwork of ‘To Let’ signs

Abandoned to sighs and shadows.

I drifted like tumbleweed down subdued streets,

Imprisoned between unfamiliar worlds,

Until someone called me by my childhood name

And my walls came tumbling down.

In a single greeting, I found my long-lost self,

In a single turn of phrase, I found home.

Roads were repaved with memories,

Scattered like summer blossom.

With echoes of everything that shaped me,

With the ache of long ago laughter and pain,

I am rerooted in native soil,

Buffeted by salt and light.