Today I walked two roads at once
(for Seadrift and Port O’Connor)
By Bob Lindsey

Today I walked two roads at once;
This was the path I took, going to the beach,
To school, to church, to scout meetings, to fish,
walking
barefooted
On hot summer days and on cold mornings
With a north wind blowing,
With curled toes and gentle
steps,
No match for those alabaster shards
That found their mark as I danced along those hard,
oyster shell
roads,
Still, I walked those roads gladly,
Listening to the music of the
gulls…
Those memories, balanced on one leg.

Now…now…
I walk these same roads,
asphalt covered,
With ditches too wide to reach the dewberries
That are no longer there,
eradicated
Like the horned frog…a horny-toad to us…
With weed killer, some say,
replaced,
By a tumult of trailers lining the way
Their boats, having abandoned them for the bay

Now…now…
I give my feet
Over to Nike running shoes, trying to stay fit enough
To enjoy the
memories of
A small town and those
roads with no names…

February 2014