woman of the road

you walk by me this early dawn
the road long, and rocky.
your head holding high your parcels
as your day opens in the early light.
I wonder where you go?
your bare feet rapidly moving
as your destination eludes me.

what holds this day for you,
woman of this land of ancient memories?
what holds this life for you?
what do you see, feel, as you pass scenes
that tear my heart?
have you accepted them, as they are your world,
not mine?
what would you think of that from which I come
where moments speed in frenzied pace
as we rush past our lives
rarely stopping to say
"bonjour"?

which life contains the sadness
and which the lesson
that we must learn in this
our journey?

I wonder where you go,
woman of the road
on this the opening of your day.

Sylvia D. Campbell, MD
September 2000