Lines After Distance

All human hearts beat just the same
Though spread o'er the whole earth,
And we are born from equal flesh
yet the contrast 'tween my birth
And that of those who welcome
Me into their fold
Seems as sharp as ice to me
Though our stories have been told
That show our common roots,
Of blood and sweat and tears,
Of hopes and dreams and wishes,
Still the gulf between our fears
Could not seem much greater;
An ever widening chasm
A darkly gaping void
From which a grim phantasm
Peers at me, a-leering, 
The expression on his face
Demanding that I pick apart
Each difference 'tween this place
And that which I had hitherto
Come to label 'home' 
And sought to rest my weary frame
at the close of each long roam
That regularly takes me here
Or maybe takes me there
From which I find release
And treasures rich to share
With all my fellow humans
Wherever we may meet
On one of those great rambles
To ease my itching feet.
And yet I find I'm disinclined
To listen to his drawl
That sees the heights I've climbed
Only as impending fall
It's true my heart is aching
For familiar release
And I feel a weight upon me
That denies an inner peace
But that's not why I came here
So once again I look
To find the things that feel the same;
The pages of a book
Still rustle with the sound
Of paper dry and thin
Even if the language
Contained there within
Makes a different mark
upon a speaking tongue,
Those stories still of loves a-lost
Or battles fought and won
Are always very human
Our challenges we share
Never mind we fight them
Over here or over there.
So once again I find
Despite moments of home sickness
The walls I built of no more strength
Than that same paper's thickness.
Here I am at home
On the crust of Planet Earth
The only home I've really known
Since my first day of birth
And around me are my people
Though like a quickness of a dart
We may see a difference
Time shows us one of heart.