A stranger in your own home by Willard Goora

If news about your coming home from the fields,
Is sweet to the family,
If family and work are separated by great mountains, rivers and oceans.
If menus change because you are coming home,
If even toddlers can tell the difference,
Yet others till their fields just like you,
But come home daily,
And their coming makes no news.
Then without you knowing it,
You may have become one,
A father by remote-control,
A stranger in your own home.
If upon arrival the kids mistaken you for their uncle,
If they realize it and quickly retort, “No, daddy…,”
If every-one laughs at the kids’ folly,
Then without you knowing it,
You may have become like one,
A soldier coming from a war in a foreign country,
A stranger in your own home.
If you get home from the fields,
And you are shocked you own a house,
If you don’t want to go back because you are gratified
If you only go back because of duty in the family,
Then without you knowing it,
You may have become one,
A father of seasons,
A stranger in your own home.
If your wife cant live without you when you aren’t there,
If she cries for you before you come home,
But when you come you find even eating habits are totally different,
And you have to learn each other all over again,
And the things that never used to matter now matter,
Then without you knowing it,
You may have become one,
An earth-mover that makes a very nice road,
But never gets to enjoy a cruse on it when it’s finished,
A stranger in your own home.
If when you come you find bedroom habits are totally changed,
If you find the bedroom is now a play-ground for kids,
If no-body seems to notice except yourself,
Then without you knowing it,
You may have become one,
A disenfranchised member of a ‘was once a family’ set-up,
A stranger in your own home.
If the sun is rising and setting in the wrong directions in your world,
And it isn’t any bother to you,
If you throw destine to fate and fold hands,
Then without you knowing it,
You are becoming a permanent one,
A spectator and cheerer of your own life.
A stranger in your own home.