Once I had a secret hide-away,
Once I lived on sacred land,
Once my heart was whole,
Once we walked hand in hand,
I remember when no piece was missing,
I remember when growing up was far away,
I remember when promises lasted forever,
I remember when we both wanted you to stay,
I used to listen to crickets sing at night,
I used to breath to the soft pace of the country,
You used to share the train whistle in the dark,
but now I am alone with that memory,
We used to talk endlessly about everything,
and change seemed very far away,
For we were just innocent children then,
and we couldn't imagine someday,
Now my times seem so lonely,
and there is nothing worth while to do,
My spirit aches for all I have lost,
and my soul longs to return to you,
But my heart still beats for my homeland,
and that haven I will always call mine,
Though it no longer exists to return to,
I could find my way back if I were blind,
And I never believed that you might leave,
or that I might have to lose my bless�d land,
I never thought I could be so lost in time,
or that I would ever feel so abandoned,
But now you're gone and so is my home,
so I've lost all that I ever cared for,
And I've spent these past years roaming around,
with nothing, but constantly searching for more,
I never did find the peace that I sought,
though I looked to religion and philosophy,
I never found the epiphany that I pursued,
I guess because it was never my birth-tree.
Though a wise man said "Seek the Axis-Mundi,"
I knew that my tie to the Earth had been cut down,
and all my attachments were gone including you,
dead and barren or left with ill reknown,
We were full of laughter when we were young,
now I'm only filled with darkness and tears,
We used to think we could conquer the world,
not be conquered by the slow changing of the years,
All I ever wanted was one piece of earth,
A sanctuary I could call my home,
And all I wanted was one best friend,
who I knew that I could count on,
I remember a time before I knew fear,
when love and safety could not be lost,
But now I know better, for everything's gone,
and given a century I couldn't estimate the cost,
What I would give to have back my woods,
and to have you back as a my dearest friend,
I thought our foundation could outlast the storm,
innocent or wise, I never thought it would end,
But now I fare the seas with no harbor,
and no hope of shelter nor rest,
Remembering only my sweet safe youth,
and that which I loved best,
Weary I wander, knowing no home,
I ask "Where have the lightning bugs gone?"
The way of my trees, my friend, and the unicorns,
so searching in vain, I keep moving on,
These bless�d imaginings sustain me on my way,
though I know they don't dwell here on earth,
I feel the breeze in the wheat over the stream,
as I dream of the land of my birth,
I can feel the sweet shade of the maple in summer,
and sense the dizzying height of the pine,
The blossoms of the dogwood are white and blood red,
reminding me that they killed what was mine,
With nothing to look to and nowhere to look back,
wandering begins to make no sense,
And there's no reason for me to carry on,
except for my fading blissful remembrance,
But finally, world weary, I must sit and sleep,
dreaming of a time when I didn't court death,
I have a vision of us singing back at home in the sun,
and comforted by the sanctity, I take my final breath.