Almost Home

Familiar scents and foods could make this seem like home.
potatoes and beets in a bucket on the floor.
the basket of foraged wild mushrooms near my feet.
cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.
the heavy canvas oiled jacket thrown across the chair
while a single lightbulb in the overhead lamp flickers
and you sit by my elbow pouring intently over hand-drawn maps.

4,000 miles from where my hounds patiently await me.
they are my true star. this new land is my origin, my roots
and I have come to learn and pray under the same sky that birthed me.
to feel the earth beneath my feet, give my thanks and
put to rest the sadness, pain and discord
for wherever I go, there I will find me.