Homecoming

Today felt like a homecoming —

doing what my spirit

has quietly, persistently

asked of me.

To teach and to learn.

To laugh.

To grow.

To feel —

all the feelings

that come

and go.

Grief.

Loss.

Letting go.

The remembering.

The honouring of what has been lost —

while gently gathering

pieces of the past

and shaping them

into new beginnings.

The land held me

all day.

And the butcher bird

sang its magic songs

from morning to dusk.

A soft breeze wrapped around me,

like ancestors whispering

messages of love

and recognition.