Hiraeth

Poet's note: August 16, 2022. "Hiraeth" is a Welsh word that has no single corresponding word in English, a homesickness tinged with grief and sadness. I wanted to add another dimension to the word to suggest a nostalgia for someone or something that never was and possibly never will be. I had no one besides myself to whom to write this poem. Although I wrote it last year, I've felt it since I was in my twenties (now I'm seventy-six) but never had a name for it.