In the end, I begin to see the unknown.

This train will only take me so far,

upon these steely wheels, a coal shoveling,

that heaves a back sore, leaves a man

chug, chug, chuggin’ along…a track

overgrown and wild, spikes split wide,

ties splintered to a narrowing.

Sometimes all we can do is step outside.

A box car is just a view of the path we take.

There is beauty in the wilderness,

that stops a train from moving through.

Flowers have a scent to match their hue

and leaves whispering of peace renewed.

Our path, our life, from birth to death,

we are always on that way of ways.

When a world throws us off the rail,

and ushers a way off our car, embrace.

For in that change, comes a freedom

ahead of bounded rail, but

the infinite possibilities afoot.

The path is pulling on our senses,

to listen closer, to breathe in deeper,

to feel raw and naked in the arms

of the beloved.

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Apprentice Editor: Melissa Horton/ Editor: Rachel Nussbaum

Photo: Brenda Clarke, Flickr Creative Commons