I’d like to wander back
Return to where I was before
Retrace that same track
Gain my lost promise once more

Now settled I’d stay there
Finally secure, stable and free
Hereafter happy without a care
A past forever just for me

But when I return to the past I’m…

Seeing faces half familiar (I see you so clear)
Hearing words never said (I’m sure I did hear)
Recalling events out of order (We went here before there)
Revisiting actions never taken (I  know what happened here)

And now in that past I ask…

Why have my old maps failed me?
Why is the compass needle so untrue?
Why in the past do I feel so lost at sea?
What stars could guide me through?

And once I return to the present I realise…

The past is a different country
I can journey there no more
In that past I emigrated
And sought a different shore.