His Four Homes

HIS FOUR HOMES

His first home
is a bedroom
in his parent's house in the country
One bed - for sleeping in
        - for sitting on
        - for strewing papers on
A collapsible table - for writing
          typing
          collapsing
                     on
A bookcase and a bookshelf - filled
not only with books
but the memories of youth
A music centre - for filling the room with sounds
                 of Mozart
                 or sixties American pop
Here, by motherly love, he's
         waited upon,
         fed,
         and gets his washing done

His second home
is a one-roomed flat
in the big city where he works
yet does not even know
the girl who lives in the flat opposite
A sink in one corner - the electric cooker
in the diametrically opposite corner
Odours of fried bacon and other foods
fill the air
Here he fends for himself, cleans and dusts -
shut in from the alien city
with views over window-box tulips
to housing estates on distant hills

His third home
is a six-year-old car
- a mobile home
Four-seater with two and often three
seats empty
A boot full of tools, first-aid kit,
spares and luggage
Fed on petrol and loving-care
it's more than a means
of commuting to work
   visiting the supermarket
   and transportation between
   first home and second
   or into the heart of the fourth

These three homes are personal to him

His fourth home
is the whole wide world
- limitless -
Here there are no walls to enclose

This home he shares with countless others

Here everyone has rights and freedom

© GERALD ENGLAND

Composed: Ackworth, 20th April 1970

Unpublished