The Place Where My Heart Belongs Poem by Daleen Enslinstrydom

At a white painted house near the foot of the mountain
in the Great Marico district my heart belongs
where the everyday life comes to a standstill,
life has got a different pace

When dawn breaks over the rugged mountains
and the light changes to a foggy orange
as if life begins anew,
everywhere birds are singing melodies,
a turtle-dove coos its song of love over the veldt

and everywhere there is a kind of serenity
where streams flow and red aloes bloom
like small arrows that flame in the sun
against the sunny side of the mountain
and at this place you can find a kind of calmness
that floods your soul as if it's living in your skin.

Even when the evening falls
this feeling is still lingering
when your eyes catch the sun
and the returning ibises fill the sky,
a guinea fowl calls out for its mate.

Here darkness has got another side,
where you can find a million stars
and while they flicker,
it's as if they are drawing at your eyes
and are inviting you to join the beautiful night.

The days are dazing, almost hypnotic,
and they draw you back to times
when you were a child
when life was full of hardship
but I do know that life was sweet,
much sweeter than the oranges
growing at the back of the house
and I know that this is the place
where my heart belongs.