The Narrow and Brambled Path

By Patrick M. Tracy

I have stood 
at the edge of the bright plain 
looking down 
across the good, cleared land 
and again 
I have shown those fields my back 
the gloom 
of the wood falling upon me 
the dappled sun and shattered sky 
the low chorus of trees 
the stillness 
of the lonely path before me 
and every step 
breaks faith with something 
leaving all promises undone 
all ties unbound 
but these 
are the wages and cost of the journey 
of the beautiful silence 
of the broken.