From dark memory

I remember

Words for

The feeling of flying

Floating

Gliding silky smooth

Tween water and fire

An elemental self

Connected to skin 

Spirit

Place and time

Open to the winds

Sea and tides

But I find I am

An immigrant 

Words  bind, cling and divide

Projecting realities unspoken

Un fathomed

Until

Bit by bit

I speak the language

of barter

of defence

of protection

I navigate it all

my armour ready

I have vanquished 

I am fluent

Mother tongue beckons

The shape

the taste

the feel of the words

That inhabited a wilder

freer heart

that shaped a different landscape 

I am returning to explore your shores

and I take a Tibet state of mind