Roadworn

This country girl
Has walked down a lifetime’s worth
Of winding country miles
I’ve paved the earth
With footfalls and freeverse
In search of reasons to stay
And found down every lane
A reason to run away.

In city lights and cement gardens
I’ve sung against the noise
The old country’s songs
And my lonely voice
Floated to heaven
Before it dispersed
I’ve lived a life of baby steps:
Unapplauded and unrehearsed.

The order of broken things
Leaves a lot of ground to cover
I collected no souvenirs.
I took no lovers.
But time took its toll on me
As I searched the din
For some pleasant land
In which to begin.

Asleep for a time
In the middle of my roam
I dreamt of a family,
A husband, a home,
But morning broke
It all to bits.
Reasons don’t matter anymore
In a life adrift.

And if I now hope to arrive
It’ll have to be as the crow flies.