Where All The Roads Lead

There’s a man on a bench
In the heat of the day
Slowly drinking
His life away
He’s the King of the World
If he’s to be believed
And he’s wondering now
Where all the roads lead

There’s a girl at a bar
With a drink in her hand
Hoping one day
He’ll understand
Life’s not worked out
Quite how she perceived
And she’s wondering now
Where all the roads lead

There’s a boy skipping school
In the mid-day sun
Threats and aggression
Left him nowhere to run
He didn’t subscribe
To their playground creed
And he’s wondering now
Where all the roads lead

There’s a young wife asleep
In the big house alone
Gifts and presents
But her husbands not home
The scratches they sting
As a wound starts to bleed
And she’s wondering now
Where all the roads lead

There’s a family on a boat
In the middle of the night
A perilous journey
That began at first light
Adrift on the channel
As their hopes
Now recede
And they are wondering now
Where all the roads lead

The roads that lead
The things we hold
These fragments of life
That are brought and sold
The roads we share
And the roads alone
These are the roads
That will carry us home

Reviews

[Jazlean]

Here I am, in my office, crying.
I have just spent the last 3 hrs desperately researching headphones... again.
You see I lost my charging case on the train, with the memory of me losing my previous case too fresh it stings, along with the memory of dropping my phone in a gutter and spilling water all over my laptop in December... Is this ADHD tax?

But as I sit here frustrated with myself my phone buzzes - a notification. My writerscafe account has a message. It's been years. And of course, as expected, it's spam. But I'm in, who else has still lingered here?

And what a joy to see new writing from you, Carl!
I haven't really written over this last decade and I'd forgotten how regulating poetry is.
But already I feel calmer, my problems sillier and everything will in fact be okay. The last 3hours need not feel like waste and worry and shame...

These roads they lead
me back to you
To poetry
and feelings true
and grounding words
old and new.

so thank you.

Also, it's a beautiful poem. I hope you are well.

[M]

This poem is moving and thought-provoking. Love how you painted a picture of each character’s life.