I am tossed upon the tempest
I am tested on the tide
I have heard the ocean restless
I will by the sea abide

But I long for drier shorelines
Far from sandy bottoms deep
For a tower wrapped in rose vines
Above a sunny keep

I have played in water shallowed
I have frolicked in the spray
But while this sea to me is hallow'd
My heart draws me far away

My soul is meant for moonglow
My heart the  sunny glade
But my home lies far below
Where the coral reefs are made

And never shall I leave it
This realm of wave and foam
For my dreams may be on land lit
But the ocean is my home

I have spok'n of you to passing clouds
And to the endless sky
Each wisp of far off thunderhead
Has heard my lovesick sigh

I've waxed poetic to the wind
And confided in the stars
The rain has matched my many tears
And washed free my heart's old scars

Each blossom in each spring kiss'd field
Reminds me of your face
And the gentle caress of the summer grass
Falls short of your embrace

I have passed my secrets to the earth
To stone and bud and tree
To the world and all it's beauty
My love, I have spoken of thee

I seek and quest about the world
With hands both harsh and tender
To see the flag of fate unfurled
And all of it's cruel splendor
I seek the songs e're gone unsung
And singers not yet made
For these are echoes not yet rung
And heroes not yet bade
Pity not my humble task
Though humble it may be
For when it's found this 'I' and 'you'
Become a stronger 'we'

I have grown used to these hills, this land
It is my home, this rich earth and tall trees
The mountains that once I thought burned with some ever present fire
But instead hold only mist
These cities from which music pours
These fields upon which brothers died
This home from which I came and left and came again
Now gone again-- for good?
And yet it is the home that, when all else fails and I reach for some distant comfort--

Tennessee, to you I call

The yellow ball soars through the air
From whence it came I do not care
And with a great, tremendous whack
I send it soaring, soaring back