Ithaca (poem)

He sails away into the sun,
hoping that he will become
a father in those stories told -
before he falls to growing old.
It pains his soul to say goodbye
to all those he’s left behind.
I hope one day he will return.
I hope one day he will have learned that
All you really need
is someone to hold, someone who sees
what pain can be.
Off they march into the fight;
once again towards the light.
They long for love, they long for peace;
for gods they know to be appeased.
They laugh, they cry, their sorrows fly.
All the rest, they don’t know why.
What will it take for them to see?
What will it take for them to see that
All you really need
is someone to hold, someone who sees
what pain can be.
Years have fallen by as rain,
and washed away all but disdain;
for enemies behind their walls
of stone and greed, how will they fall?
You cast your eyes into the flame;
and hope to see her face again.
The one you know she may not be,
but in her eyes it’s clear to see that
All you really need
is someone to hold, someone who sees
what pain can be.
In the end it falls upon
all those who feel they don’t belong;
to turn to me and make me see;
to turn to me and make me see that
All I really need
is someone to hold, someone who sees
the pain in me.