A Sense of Place, A Sense of Home

Al Joad:  Ain't you gonna look back, Ma? Give the ol'place a last look?
Ma Joad:  We're going to California, aint't we.  All right then let's go to California.
Al Joad:  That don't sound like you Ma.  You never was like that before.
Ma Joad:  I never had my house pushed over before.  Never had my family stuck out on the road.  Never had to lose everything I had in life.
                                                                                                -- from "The Grapes of Wrath"  by John Steinbeck

Highway 99

99 you know me

you became part of my life

and I yours at a young age

we meant very early in the morning of my leaving 

before the sun had risen

the air still chilly, crisp and quivering sadly 

as the move and the separating from this "place" begins

the essence and fond memories leave my mind and moves deeply into my soul

... it's oddly still and quit at this moment

my feet lifted and then separated from this familar soil

the sound of the motor, the door's final close,

the tires slowly began rotating off-center heading south

we're entering the portal, merging into your flow of history, now ours

along with the joad’s, the tomatoes, the walnuts and cotton

for your part in this moment of my transformation

I forgive you