Heavy Load and a Worried Mind

This is a poem I started a few weeks ago, partially inspired by a conversation I was having with my friend Tony III. I just got around to finishing it up yesterday afternoon. I'm toying with the idea of setting it to music.

Heavy Load and a Worried Mind
by John W. Leys

Out the door to the platform
Just waiting for a train
Tug down on my hat brim
To shield my eyes from the rain

No tears this time
I just can't stay still
Nothing to tie me down now
I guess I've just had my fill

I've got souvenirs from places
I ain't never been
And every year I confess
Even if I didn't commit the sin

Walkin' through the Village
To listen to the Cabaret
When the singer gently pulls a tune
From the poet of the lost highway

The Lord has retreated from the world
And yet remains within our reach
Like the tide receding out
While the ocean still kisses the beach

I follow my footsteps down
Through the road map of my soul
No home for this weary traveler
When the road itself is a goal

The train pulls into the station;
All the passengers climb on in
No promise or prediction made
Can guarantee I'll ever be here again. (6 December 2006)