Roads ----------------- 1 The roads are exhausted Have walked too far with me Although we walked together I with them, they with me While they know where they are Where they were, and can be They don't know where I am As far as I can see 2 Afraid to walk alone In this solitude today The road walks with companions Its lines, all the way Although they walk together Everywhere in my universe The road walks one way The lines walk in reverse 3 On the other side, the road Walks jeweled, with sinuous tread On this side, stern and taut Incessant march of red This procession of red roses Before me, in my hearse Takes me home to four walls That are my universe 4 Roads, why do you bear Your names on your forehead You're not slaves of anyone They are lost before they tread If they reach destinations Their names they will applaud If they fail, blame your name Your twists and turns instead 5 Roads, you were smelted To bear the burning heat Bear the ice and the rain Sandstorms and sleet Yet when you and I Walk in shade, you fear to speak You can't be weaker than me You can't be weaker than the weak 6 The people you have met The people that you might Will leave you in the dark They sleep in beds at night Homeless that I am I would die in your arms Leave them where they are Roads take me to alms 7 You impose silent rules On roads that cross you I stand at your crossroads Tell me what must I do I'll wait here by your side Learning to be free Learning to cross you When the world crosses me 8 In your expanse, my life From child, 'til I was frail Small distance in your heart Few miles on your endless trail Yet you walked with me Unfaltering, all along Although I hummed different tunes You made my steps your song 9 Like you, I make mistakes I lose my way, like you In the night when it is dark Can't read my own name too But you, unlike me, road Don't leave at any turn When lost along yourself You take the same road to return 10 It puzzles me to see Your grey and stoic sheen Immortal that you are The pain that you have seen A million loves, your reason To live fragments in time Why are you not crimson Your heart's bled a million times 11 Those of lofty ambitions Build a bridge above the road Although it is the only road That leads to their abode Wayward mazes, cities of greed On both sides of the bridge Defeated, always, they return To the road under the bridge 12 I often wonder, Roads How you choose your goals My choices must be less, or You must have greater goals For I am half of me When divided by my goals And you are twice of you When divided by your goals 13 I'm chided when I walk A different way each day My destinations are so far It's hard to see my way Roads, you are unfaltering But even you are heard to say At your own crossroads "I could take a different turn today" ----------------- 1 Apr. 2018