I rode the rails on a freight train

To the edge of town,

Hitched aboard that iron-wagon

Engulfed by the sound

~

Of slick metal wheels rolling on

a hot, rusted track.

When I reached the county line, I

Wasn’t going back.

~

I hitched my way across the South

on a country road,

never knowing where I was, or

which way I should go.

~

I slept in farms, fields, and forests,

alleys, barns, and cars,

warehouses, or on the roadside,

out beneath the stars.

~

Spent years crossing the country, where

cold nights can be rough.

No matter how far I went, it’s

never far enough.

~

I knew the pangs of hunger well,

bitterness and loss.

A life spent on the road demands

such a heavy cost.

~

But now this tired traveler

rests among the stones.

Finally found the only way to

rest my weary bones.

~

The Trestle by STF

See more poems by S. T. Finn in:

A LIFE ENTANGLED: THE EARLY POEMS 1

A LIFE UNRAVELED: THE EARLY POEMS 2

and

A COLLECTION OF HAIKU by S. T. Finn

1—LEAVES IN THE RAIN

2—COVERED IN MIST