Home Away

A stranger walks down unfamiliar streets

lined with strange shops selling the old familiar wares

moving unrecognized among locals who know the shops,

the shopkeepers, the wares, the old friendly ways.

These locals are at home, in the old town,

among friends and acquaintances, greeting and greeted.

their unthinking feet know the paths as they wander

here and there, through familiar ways from day to day.

But a stranger ambles looking for respite,

comfort and a meeting place to share some time,

and comes upon the Poets' Pub welcoming doors,

where strangers find a home away.