Ode to Home

You say I do not remember

But you never even knew

What do you know of our mountains?

What are apple trees to you?

I remember how the rain comes

In the middle of the night

Doesn't leave for six months straight for

Skies of blue or ground of white

I remember every oyster

That the tide has overturned

And for every one match fire,

I remember how it burned

I remember alpine meadows

Topped with snow in mid July

And I've seen the baby dolphin

I have watched the osprey fly

When you tell me of your cities

How your climate is the best

Wait and learn about my ocean

Spend a year or two out west

I remember foggy beaches

Only stones along the shores

But I'd take the barnacle rocks

Over any sands of yours

Where it's never hot and humid

And it's never cold and dry,

Half an hour from sea level,

I have climbed a mile high

You can laugh at our volcano,

But we have no hurricanes

And no lightening in mid-August

In fact, we've no summer rains

I remember walking barefoot

In the city by the Sound

Eating Thai curry or gyros

By the best fountain around

I can well recall the market

With the downstairs ice cream shop

And that great iconic needle

With the restaurant on top

I remember riding ferries

With the wind right in my face

Eating salmon by the seaside

After a cross country race

You can have your famous cheesesteak

Or your fabulous cream pies

But go west three thousand miles

For a real paradise