Homecoming

Whilst seven slept in ragged splendour
I stepped beyond the door
To steal the skylarked dawn
And tread the world underfoot,
But turning back
I found them gone,
Surrendered to the years,
Where wormed beams
Had crashed the sky
Upon the fetid floor.
A rusted nail,
Above the frozen range,
Alone within the empty shell,
Gave life to distant times.
And then I heard them call
Within the chimney breast,
“Who’s there?”
And stepped beyond the door
A second time,
To see them sit and stare
In wide-eyed solemn wisdom,
Before they disappeared
With gentle wings.