It was a long journey home From the great Eastern front My sword in its sheath And shield on my back Senseless death In a land not our own Now I return as a shell of myself The faces of dead men Hide behind my eyelids I trudge through unfamiliar streets Changed by the long decade past I find it stranger than the far land I was now returning from All the great temples Have been torn down The God I worshiped No where to be seen Brothels and markets Now stand in places of worship They tell me the temple At Anol Mihn yet stands So I set out for it Up into the great hills I take my time on the trek Unsure of many things That I used to hold dear, That I trusted as absolute The stone path is worn Overgrown and treacherous Yet after three days' journey I arrived at my destination
The temple stood in disrepair The doors stripped from it Light shining through holes And cracks in the high ceiling I came and bowed to my knees Before the imposing statue Of my now forgotten God Maybe for minutes Or perhaps long hours I sat before it Thinking, praying If one could call it such Seeking the one Who my people had forgotten Questioning all I had done And if it was enough Where I could call home Now that my home has abandoned All I once held dear Yet the statue before me Sat deafeningly silent
The light shifted slowly Imperceptibly the pure light Became gilded rays As the evening sun sank Illuminating the thick dust Hanging weighlessly in the air I stood up as the light faded And stepped out side The twilight had come And with it I journeyed Further into the hills Until I found a grassy place To rest my weary body As well as my weary soul The stars became visible As I sat down I turned my gaze To the endless heavens above I laid my pack beside me Then laid myself down In soft untouched grass Gripped between my fingers Then closed my eyes
Praying my God may come In but a whisper To tell me what to do To show me the way I just go And what to do now That everything I know Has fallen apart I cried, and waiting Spoke and prayed Yet no answer came Not in all the long hours of night I laid there in the hills
Before the morning came I arose I heard the birds in the bushes and trees I saw the grass blow in the breeze I felt the sun bring warmth to my cheeks And I stood up to survey the earth To witness if I had any worth For a moment I stood and then I heard A voice my own yet not my word From deep within an answer came Not from one I knew and not the same As the God whom I claimed to believe But He spoke and said He is in me Not just in stone, temple or heart But in all those his righteous art Who seek the truth, peace and love To them he comes light as a dove And rests on them and dwells within Freeing them from bonds of sin That they may live and live a new The Creator God who dwells in you