I remember riding a trail horse
around the last corner before the barn
and the sudden lunge of her sinews
something gravitational
in the return home
after being away
I feel for those without one
whose every day is a struggle
of hopeless walk and wander
and no homecoming
to a place of relief
or well-worn comfort
though in every person
that very last breath
is like a return to the first
and that house of darkness
we left so long ago awaits
with no obvious sign
of welcome
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