I see around me these fragrant streets,
That I found while seeking flowers as a child.
Now I watch as they yawn, hollow and still,
As twilight has driven life from its rooms.

And I stand there, a fool in a worn-out show,
Amid false facades clinging to its memories,
Like a body warm enough to cradle close,
Until I lay it back in its casket once more.

And in the evening’s hush, I’m haunted by days
When these streets sang with children at play,
When I wandered deep in apple tree shade,
I, who once wondered at this world.

And it stirs in me a love for life,
For each ordinary day I’m still given,
Finding, in the end, nothing more than this—
To love well what I’ll soon have to release.

–Tuomo Syri (Instagram @tuomowritings)

Like childhood tales of old,
These home streets unfold in dusk’s soft gold.
But before we close our eyes tonight,
I want to share how I found the light.

Along that path, I was a child so small,
In autumn’s embrace, I’d run to the bridge’s call,
Tossing cones in the water, laughter filled the night,
Gathering lovely leaves ’til the fading light.

I cried when I strayed into shadows stark,
And ran from the dark.
I wandered far from the path I used to know,
But only there I found the road that led me home.

–Tuomo Syri (Instagram @tuomowritings)