Hinterland

HINTERLAND 

Beyond the city’s limits,

Beyond our narrow field of view,

Beyond the castles and the spires,

Beyond the ancient and the new;

It dominates the distance,

In a place we seldom understand,

Yet in the catchment of our minds,

Lies our shadowed hinterland;

It looms on our horizon,

Yet just keeping out of sight,

It guides our every step,

And every moment of our night;

And in that uncharted landscape,

There lies our hidden source,

Where rise our mighty rivers,

That carve their knowing course;  

And from our phantom roots,

That others neither know nor see,

Which guide and shape our present,

And who we are to be;

So catch those transitory glimpses,

Of our unrecovered past,

Those unoccupied recollections,

That never seem to last;

Beyond our city’s limits,

Beyond our outstretched hand,

Beyond our castles and our spires,

Lies our forgotten hinterland.