Yarrow House

Crossroads

I live in the borderlands. My life's
a crossroads there. People passing,
pausing, passing through.
The constant press for change,
the constant checking at the border.
They trace their paths—acquaintances
and lovers—through my life and away.
The strangers who become friends
while they're in town; the friends who
find mates. The closest connection
cannot hold. They're here for a while
and then gone on, while I,
I'm still as a roadside stone,
gravity-worn into a resting place.
				

Published in Borderlands, Court Street Press, Seattle: 1999

Onetime reproduction for non-resale purposes permitted by the author with the following credit line:  by Judith Yarrow