Ties that Could’ve Been

Riding the train from Memphis
watching the tracks go by,
I was struck by the railroad ties
strewn hither and thither
along the way.
Old ties, been there a while—
it wasn’t like the tie collector
was chugging along behind me
ready to recover the rotting ties.
I couldn’t help but think of my
artist friend
and the wonderful things she could make from
those ties.
The ties were in the railroad’s
right of way—
the company could toss purple ducks along the tracks
and be in the right.
But just because it was their
right of way
doesn’t mean it was
the right way.

here’s to creative synthesis . . .