Half Throughout The World

Half throughout the world from me

Lie the lands I’ll in no way see-

I, whose longing lives and dies

Where a ship has sailed away;

I, that by no means shut my eyes

But to appear upon Cathay.

Things I may additionally no longer be aware of nor tell

Wait, the place older waters swell;

Ways that flowered at Sappho’s tread,

Winds that sighed in Homer’s strings,

Vibrant with the singing dead,

Golden with the dirt of wings.

Under deeper skies than mine,

Quiet valleys dip and shine.

Where their soft grasses heal

Ancient scars of trench and tomb

I shall in no way walk: nor kneel

Where the bones of poets bloom.

If I searching for a lovelier part,

Where I journey goes my heart;

Where I stray my notion should go;

With me wanders my desire.

Best to sit down and watch the snow,

Turn the lock, and poke the fire.

– Abraham Adesanya