Circumstance

At twenty-four, I still in naive folly 
thought of life as paved with milestones. 
And milestones require commemoration; 
before I even made it to the exit, 
I knew I had to find some way to mark 
the start of a new epoch in my life. 
But when I saw anew the city where 
I first awoke to love and longing, 
I decided then and there the perfect way 
to give fresh purpose to my fresh sojourn: 
I vowed to go to the Old Port of Montreal, 
the place that haunted my dreams for seven years, 
when and only when I lost all hope 
and needed to find my way in the world again.