Homecoming

The heavy rain pounds the earth,

The ground has taken it's fill.

The excess flows in small streams

That go blindly down the hill.

A newcomer to the town

Has become lost on his way.

Came to be a visitor,

Only now is forced to stay.

"How did I get here," he thinks.

Doesn't know where he has been,

and where to find some shelter

is too far beyond his ken.

Lightning blazes in the sky;

Its daylight, so bright and full.

He sees it in the distance

a cross upon a steeple.

Before long he has made it,

to a small church right beside,

a small and tidy graveyard

where are buried those who died.

It looks familiar to him,

but this surely cannot be.

He's never been here before

At least not that he can see.

He shakes the thought from his mind

He knows now that he must try

to get inside the building,

where surely it must be dry.

He finds the front door is locked,

the side and back are as well.

He opens a storm cellar,

and sees a vision of hell.

The place is filled with the dead

all are standing on their own.

They all turn their heads tow'rd him

The warm smiles welcome him home.

Everything comes flooding back,

a shock to his flailing mind.

He did not survive his trip

He'll be here for quite some time.