{CROSSWAYSNET}

I have not been this way before
I will not see the destination
I only follow
where I am led
he with face toward day
shoulder to the wind
I catch the light and shadow
the sweat the blood and dust


Early came the first of me
Tentative then racing
One way then misdirecting
Testing what would be
the best way forward
He presumed each one
was always better
even when he slipped

When life danced
His gate was free and wild
Direction unnecessary
All's what is
and evermore shall be
I barely made a mark
air my only canvas
and joy my only brush

Another me joined us
A cadence mild and lighter
Together we became
One and more than 'we'
Where once we followed
now we led
and there were three
there were more to come
as it was meant to be

I deepened when the
living loads upon his shoulders
bore down with shifting weight
in uncompromisingly hilarity
He forgot about himself
My mark a mess of we
Then came the moment of release
I the lighter - as he was full

Too often though
I was the hammer
beating out a dirge
on hardened roads
No soft impressions
or earthy fragrance
Only fractured shards
and flinty sparks

His eye began to fail him
greys drew him from the path
the hidden rocks ensnared us
and I give testament
Here lies the twisted place
that twisted him and twisted me
To move on he must return
I followed to the path once lost

When late the cadence faded
one voice upon the clay was muted
I followed slower now
till the precipice we approached
together looking, tilting
in this moment an eternity
I the anchor of despair
he all fiery hush

When finally comes the parting
He to find his home
I am the only memory
of who he was before
and in my emptiness
they look for who they will become
He the man I followed
I the steps he took