Crossroad

For I have traveled this road before all alone in the dark.
Now, as I walk, I’m haunted with echoes of cries of the past.
They too were travelers with no place to go.
As I continued to walk, my eyes begin to open, now seeing for the first time.
Children of the night lined the street in many doorways.
Their eyes are now filled with emptiness.
Where once was laughter, now only sadness was felt.
Children’s toys, now replaced with used needles, drugs, crack pipes, and guns.
Their roles models, "greed and lust", "drunks and derelicts".
They’re educating them on the trades of today’s idolatries.
Transactions of sex, crack, boy, girl, meth, and blue ice.
Drunks & derelicts wander aimlessly through the streets, leaving behind their stench.
My tears swelled up into my eyes, tears streamed down my face.
Wondering what happened to the good-times this road once had;
Where has it all gone?
What future lies ahead for our children?
I continued to walk, alone in the dark, filled with much despair.
Suddenly, the din of echoes begins to lessen as I came to the end of the road.
In front of me, there was a crossroad, a new direction, and a new beginning.
The darkness that was once there had now lifted.
A ray of hope lit the direction I should take.
I surrendered to the light, I followed.
Now, the light guides my path.
It began to rain.
I did not care; maybe the rain will wash away the pain.

By Sandy