The Longest Road

So many highways and byways to roam

In every imagined direction.

So many places to go and to see, but

Too little time for reflection.

 

Youth is a footpath of foreshadowed trails,

Much too busy to echo reproach, but

These pathways grow longer

As summers traverse

And culpability comes to encroach.

 

The cherished path is the lane that is shared

With the one true love, so adored.

As the dove lingers long it will warble its song

Like a wayfaring charmed troubadour.

 

The roadway of age lingers long, travels slow,

Pausing frequently to contemplate

All the streets and the avenues

Crossed and recrossed

And the memories each one relates.

 

But the longest road,

The loneliest road,

Is covered with cobblestone.

A thoroughfare paved in shades of despair,

For the longest road is travelled alone.