look homeward, angel

...a stone, a leaf, an unfound door; of a stone, a leaf, a door.
and of all the forgotten faces.

naked and alone we came into exile. in her dark womb we
did not know our mother's face; from the prison of her flesh
have we come into the unspeakable and incommunicable prison
of this earth.

which of us has known his brother? which of us has looked
into his father's heart? which of us has not remained forever
prison-pent? which of us is not forever a stranger and alone?

oh waste of loss, in the hot mazes, lost, among bright stars on
this most weary unbright cinder, lost! remembering speechlessly
we seek the great forgotten language, the lost lane-end
into heaven, a stone, a leaf, an unfound door. where? when?

o lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again.

-thomas wolfe look homeward, angel