Llangyfelach Lad (the Welsh pseudonym of Lamonte John)

There’s hardly a phrase in this language of ours or in any other lengthy tome

   That Brings more joy to the human heart than to say “I’m coming home”

My first recollection of experiencing that joy was when I was off to college

   A time zone away and far to the north, I was trying to gain more knowledge

But I missed my mates and my family too, and especially my sweetheart I missed

   So, at Thanksgiving break, I sped down the road, looking forward to a welcome home kiss

The time slipped by, we were married soon after and then we started our crew

   Of four little boys full of mischief and laughter, intermixed with adventurous brew

We lived closer now, and from Utah to home was a short little drive up the road

   And homesick feelings of being too far away were something that never we showed

Then the circumstances of life took a changing turn moving us far, far away

   To the other side of this beautiful land and the question of how long we’d stay

Some though it short, and some thought it long, some weren’t sure what to think

   In the end it seemed longer than we ever imagined, but the time hurried by in a blink

We were there so long that it became home and where we longed for had shifted

   To the woods of Virginia near the Capitol city, our interests apparently had drifted

For 30 years plus we planned most of our summers with intent on traveling west

   To unite with our family, the young and the old, but now we felt more like guests

It was great to see all and catch up on news, and sometimes we wouldn’t want to leave

   But our homesick hearts had now shifted east, a concept not previously conceived

And late in my life I and the good fortune to connect with some family long lost

   In the county of Wales, where my ancestors started before the ocean they crossed

Families were split with some left behind and no plan was ever thought viable

   To reunite in the future, with travel so difficult and communication so unreliable

Fast forward a century, or maybe more, and the tools of communication are vast

   To facilitate connection with family that was split and seemingly lost in the past

It sparked interest in my ancestral homeland, a place that I’ve still never walked

   It created curiosity in my forbear’s past, a subject about sometimes we talked

So, I dug deeper, with my cousins in Wales, and learned much more than I knew

   About the place where it started many centuries ago and now with a much better view

Using tools of the day I was able to find the streets of the villages and towns

   Where my grandfathers walked in the early days while still being subjects of the crown

I considered the stories, both written and verbal, of their courage in starting anew

   In a land far away, where freedom was found which today blesses me and blesses you

My newly found clan sent me records and photos of gravestones of ancestors past

   In the churchyard plot where they prayed each week ‘til finally the day was their last

So, I’ve come to feel affinity, to that country afar, I can say that without any strife

  And I hope someday to make a pilgrimage there to complete that circle of my life

So now we’ve returned to the valley of Malad where, for both of us, life had its start

   Where we lived and we laughed and we learned a lot, about what to keep in our heart

Like the families that raised us and the values they taught, the lessons we’ll never forget

   And the lifelong images of good friends and teachers, forever we’ll be in their debt

And then there’s the “village” from a now distant state, who loved us right from the start

   And the ones who came later and enriched our lives, forever they’ll be in our heart

And what of my family from a far distant land, the ones who I’ve yet to embrace

   Won’t they be a part of my life from now on and something I can never erase

So what’s the solution; can I figure it out, which of these places to call home?

   It’s a question I’ve been pondering and hoping I could answer by the final line of this poem

But failing all that, I think the solution is to not give it any more thought

   Perhaps it’s best to just bask in life’s blessings and to give thanks for all that I’ve got

For indeed I’ve been blessed from the very start with abundant influences for good

   And to think I’d call home, just one of these places; it’s selfish to think that I could

And so for today I’m happy to say that my home is wherever I’m standing

   With more than six decades of life’s lessons learned I’m happy today notwithstanding

My Welsh heritage tells me that all things are possible and no matter how far I can roam

  It’s the loved ones around me who show me they care that tell me for sure that I’m home