Mid-journey, turn and look back
at the tracks you’ve made, the line
you’ve furrowed into mud, into snow,
a weaving cursive through the slop.
This line delivered you here.
Re-traced, re-worried, it will return you
to all the places you’ve known.
Yet these tracks might belong to anyone.
All such lines look alike, only
the boot-treads differ. Does that matter?
The snow falls, the sun wanes,
your footprints submit to their fate,
and you stand lost where the tracks end.
Jacob Lee Bachinger’s collection of poetry, Earth-cool, and Dirty, was published by Radiant Press in 2021. He has had poems published in The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Riddle Fence, and other Canadian journals. He lives and works in Lethbridge, AB.
