Where My Heart is Home

Thomas Hemminger

March 26, 2023

My heart knows the way back

down that open highway

lined with Texas wildflowers

and a sleepy railroad track. 

I don’t need the worn out map

laying folded on the dusty floorboard

of my trusty pick-up truck. 

We’ve been down that familiar road

so many times, for many so years now. 

I wish to load up the bed again, 

and take off that way

to where I long to be:

standing in a high hayfield,

under a wide, blue sky,

bathing in the warm rays

of an early-summer sunset. 

No other care, save

watching the rural birds

coasting slowly in their lofty heights;

hearing the neighbor’s cattle 

calling to each other; and

smelling the sage, the lemongrass, 

and the honeysuckle. 

That is the glorious place, 

where my heart is home.  

Thomas Hemminger is an elementary music teacher living in Dallas, Texas. His personal hero is Mr. Fred Rogers, the creator of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was through America’s favorite “neighbor” that Thomas learned of the importance of loving others, and of giving them their own space and grace to grow.