Hamecoming

Hamecoming

Deep roots nurtured by the weeping willow
Fresh western air on Arran’s blond beaches
Striding over Goatfell’s granite ridges
Strengthened my curiosity my wanderlust

As a teen I poured over Beautiful British Columbia Magazines
For geography class made an album of far-off New Zealand
Spent hours under the flouted columns on Carlton Hill
Mesmerized by the green orange hills of Fife
Wondered what lay across the North Sea
As I yearned for exotic lands and cultures

Once launched from the stern walls of Edinburgh University
I a rebellious daughter of patriarchy travelled
before long my passport stamped full
my photo albums like pages of the National Geographic
In a sea of other I stumbled on a forlorn inner place
A longing for home

While I scaled mountains in strange lands,
The world arrived in Scotland
The white mainstream Scotland of my youth
Has morphed into a rainbow blend
Second generation Asian speak with Scottish brogue

At sixty I am woman who has come hame to herself
Found my inner place an expanding pool of light
My roots have suckered across continents
And intertwined with the global community
In an intricate Celtic Knot.