18xx

The calm contentment of the railroad tracks
Flowing into the distance and horizon
Brings to my soul just what the highway lacks
As long as I can keep my longing eyes on
The middle distance, where the two straight lines
Seem to conjoin, although they cannot so:
The effortless eternity that signs
The future and the past in just one go.
For train tracks map the time in endless space
Forever stretching forward, backward, out
Into the possibility of grace
Through wonder, and despite worry and doubt.
I find myself exploring with my mind
The curves and straights no engineers designed.