Down the street from the first house I ever lived in
there were train tracks
I payed no attention to the rumbles
but listened every night
for the screaming horns and whistles
I let them sing me to sleep
once a month, maybe twice
if I got lucky.
they stood there abandoned
sometimes I sat and waited for a train
an angel
a something
to remind those tracks
that they lead to somewhere
somewhere someone needs
someone someone needs.
I remember the nights I couldn't sleep
I would wait for the whistle
that would eventually lead to rumbles
that would hush me to sleep
eventually.
Most nights, they never came.
Most nights, I lie awake with my train tracks
untraveled
but never unloved.
And when we moved out of that house
I stepped out of the boxed I had yet to pack
I reminded those train tracks
that even though you are alone when it's cold
then absorbing sunshine on your own
even when it snows
and there are no blankets to protect you
I think you should know
you're going somewhere
somewhere someone needs to be
someone someone else needs to see.
You are needed
you are loved
even if by no one else,
by me.