It used to be

It used to be that when the waves
delivered me toward the shore,
the ocean reeled and wound the strings
that knotted through my salty heart.

It used to be that the shrinking land
in turn diminished every woe,
and opened up the world beyond
the sun, the moon, the forever-fold.

It used to be…but the gravity has shifted,
in the heart of this nation are the dreams that I have lifted,
are the roots that I’ve buried,
are the branches that I’ve tended;
full-steam ahead, before I’m dead,
let it grow where once it ended.