Railroad

Some people ride life like a train,
but to me life’s more
like the nailing of ties to the rails
in the hope that tracks,
properly secured, will never fail.

Others find excitement in rivers
that wind their way around hills,
create green valleys
and, as they travel, carve channels.
But I would say

it takes will to cut tunnels through mountains
where you can’t look back
to measure
how far you have dug
or have yet to go;

just accepting the progress each day
as a new investment
in getting finally to the place
for which you started
and, since then, have never rested.

As with a poem,
you know the moment it’s finished.
You are now committed:
your work stands there all alone
displayed to the judgment of others.

It can’t be changed. No excuses.
You’ve exposed yourself
to stand alone,
undergoing the initial judgment
of a child just born.