The Return to Where We Began
Whatever battles fate may wage, whatever stars may say,
Love leads us through a thousand roads, yet home we find our way.
And after all the tenderness, the dreams we hold so dear,
We find ourselves where we began, as though we'd never strayed.
No soul who never sacrificed a smile along the way,
Can harvest joy from fields of grief when sorrow comes to stay.
For every seed that falls in tears must face the winter's night,
Before it learns to bloom again beneath the morning light.
How many hearts have burned away beneath the hands of time,
Yet from their ashes never found the wings with which to climb.
How many eyes have watched the dark, awaiting dawn's embrace,
Yet night refused to bring them even one small glimpse of grace.
How many souls pursued the dream of loyalty and truth,
Only to find that life had stolen all the flowers of their youth.
The world repeats its ancient tale of sorrow mixed with cheer,
One leaves, another takes their place, as seasons disappear.
The heavens pull the threads of fate through endless, turning skies,
Yet who can tell what secret sleeps behind the stars' disguise?
I wandered through a thousand streets, your name I could not find,
Except within the restless wind that left your trace behind.
My heart said, "Leave this love behind, let go and be set free,"
But reason never understood what love had done to me.
For not all those who smile are blessed with happiness inside,
Nor every eye that sheds a tear has lost its strength or pride.
How easy it is to say, "Forget, and let the past depart,"
How difficult to erase a name engraved upon the heart.
If loving you is called a crime, then let me bear the blame,
And if devotion is a sin, let history keep my name.
I am a traveler who never reached the place I sought,
Yet never did my weary feet surrender to the road I walked.
Each branch I held with hopeful hands was broken by the breeze,
But never by the lack of worth within the roots beneath.
A tree that wears the winter's frost upon its naked frame,
May rise again when spring returns, and bloom with life anew.
What know those who have never felt the weight of love's embrace,
Of how a single sigh can set a thousand hearts ablaze?
What know they of the endless nights a lonely lover spends,
When silence is the only voice that answers in the end?
I hold no grudge against the stars, nor curse the hand of fate,
For every wound has left a mark, a lesson to relate.
I do not blame the promises that vanished with the air,
But still my heart remembers all the dreams we used to share.
If someday you should walk this road and find no trace of me,
Remember, once a wounded soul passed here with tearful eyes.
If ever winds should speak my name and whisper it to you,
Do not say that I have vanished, leaving nothing true.
For I built a home within the miles that kept us far apart,
Not made of stone or wood, but built within my heart.
So many nights I stayed awake, believing you would come,
Until the morning rose again, and still the world was numb.
Yet once again I turned my face toward sunlight's golden ray,
For even after endless nights, a dawn may find its way.
Do not promise me tomorrow with words that never last,
For all I have is this brief day, while shadows hold the past.
Not every branch that blooms will keep its flowers through the years,
Nor every falling leaf must mean the death of all its dreams.
Sometimes the roots remain alive beneath the frozen ground,
Though nothing green or beautiful is anywhere around.
Come, look into the mirror of the heart and you shall see,
A world of hidden storms and dreams no stranger can perceive.
Look at those who wear a smile while carrying their pain,
And those whose hearts conceal a mountain underneath the rain.
Look at those who heal the wounds of everyone they meet,
Yet have no hand to hold their own when life becomes too deep.
Look at those who light a lamp for someone else's night,
Yet walk alone beneath the sky, without a moon in sight.
Love never taught me how to die beneath its heavy flame,
It taught me how to stand with grace and never lose my name.
If all that love should leave to me is burning, let it be,
But may my fire never turn to ash another soul's dream.
Though destiny may keep its treasures far beyond my reach,
There still remain a thousand ways for human hearts to teach.
What worth is all the wealth of earth, the palaces of gold,
If somewhere there is one lost heart left trembling in the cold?
What worth are all the grandest halls, the riches and the throne,
If there is no one by your side to make the place a home?
I did not come into this world to see myself alone,
For gold and silver cannot make a human heart of stone.
True greatness is not found in fame, nor titles, nor in power,
But in becoming someone's shelter through their darkest hour.
If one day I must leave this earth and travel beyond the skies,
I hope a little kindness stays where my memory survives.
Not in my poems, nor my name, nor books that turn to dust,
But in the hearts of those who knew that I was kind and just.
And now, my final words, O Time, if you should grant me one more day,
If I could walk this world again and choose another way,
I would not follow every road that led me into doubt,
Nor give my heart to those whose love could never live it out.
Yet if one day love knocks again upon my weary door,
I would not close my heart to it as I had done before.
Perhaps beyond these nights of grief, these years of separation,
Love will arrive where no goodbye can shatter its foundation.
And maybe this is all there is, the truth beneath the sky:
That love is where our journeys start, and where our endings lie.
And every soul that seeks the truth through all the worlds it roams,
Will find itself, when all is done, returning to its home.
For every road we ever take, however far we roam,
The heart may cross a thousand worlds, yet love will lead it home.
