I Wish to Return Home, by Millie Percival

Our English Coasts, by William Holman Hunt (England) 1852

 
I Wish to Return Home
 
Untainted tranquillity breaches past my mind
Waves of hills stretch out 
like stony arms,
Rocks crunching underfoot
  As another step,
Cautiously pushes forward, 
Beneath fingers of blackened cloud 
Gripping the trees, 
Uprooting, once lush green,
Toxins smothering with a noxious seal. 
 
But here, we are clean.
Pure and untainted by roughened hands
Blades of grass, brace, swords pointed to the sky
Allow me to walk along a little more to
Rest my weary feet along the coastline.
 
It is not long before their corruption will reach us, 
Gripping us by the curls sprouting atop our heads
Tearing through the serene, 
Choking us with electric smoke,
Spores will blister along our lungs,
Tumours bleeding along the walls. 
 
Our feet unsteady we rise up
  We must continue along
Our pilgrimage back to
Where the waves
Join to the towering cliffs,
A blanket of blue hovering overheard.
All the way back home.

Millie Percival

Millie Percival is currently studying literature and creative writing in university. She is especially interested in writing poetry on the Romanticism period in art history.