the burdens we tow

​

it was 2:00 a.m. on the bypass

the skyline of Atlanta going by

a heavy rain was falling

Brook Benton sang about why

 

i can still remember the mood

from long ago on that road

and sometimes it visits again

like a burden that I’ve towed

 

the dour defeat of that journey

carried a deep hollow of loss

the sad displacement of hope

by dreams that I had to toss

 

you can feel holes in your heart

where the light had once shone

filling with anger and sorrow

as you just keep driving on

 

commiserate with sad songs

while you try to pull through

there was myself and Jim Cuddy

the two of us falling down blue

 

no one can know your heart

not quite the way that you do

how it can float on a cloud

when everything’s going for you

 

but when the dark clouds roll in

and wash all the magic away

your misery grows to the point

that you can no longer stay

 

don’t go looking for a rebound

that’s an awfully long shot

don’t believe you are ready

if wounds tell you you’re not

 

try to steer your mind away

from the good things gone bad

let the time and the distance

dampen the profoundly sad

 

and when love greets you again

further down your own road

make sure that you dropped

the old burdens you've towed

 

s. paul    (Aug 2022)