As you are going away, it is perhaps advisable
To get more geared-up
Than it first springs to mind.
Some, as if you were one of theirs, would give you a knife;
Others, though you’ve only just arrived, would hand you a pillow.
The source of traditions, once shared, long gone now.
Another line of shielding oneself is to wear a poem
Written suddenly in teens,
Or the lingering fragrance of the first night out,
Even if there were no kisses.
It is also believed that having on you
Not a speck of dust from the field around your house,
Or the first milk tooth,
May cause a great harm
To both the traveller and the places he calls upon.
Some trust one should always carry,
(though keep it well out of sight)
A floor-splinter from the room he was born in,
Or else the way back may be lost forever;
Others are certain parent’s favourite melody
Will just do the trick.