NEPHART.COM

Every day

I looked for a fellow traveller

someone who would sit beside me

and stay until the destination

but before we could get there

so many had already

stepped off

one left me alone

and I was afraid

to let another one aboard

so I thought

maybe this is how it is

maybe life

is a journey

I have to travel alone

Still

people kept getting on

one after another

bringing their faces

their voices

their stories

and somewhere along the way

I began to understand

love

affection

perhaps they are only bonds

we tie around ourselves

a quiet attraction

that makes us believe

someone will remain

The faces of every traveller

I let close to my heart

keep moving inside me

even after they are gone

And I learned

that the deeper I become friends

with someone on the journey

the harder it becomes

when they have to leave

Some travellers

even promise

I will travel with you

for a long time

but life has its own stations

and one day

even they must get off

Because the heart

does not always get to choose

when one heartbeat stops

the other is left

listening to its own silence

So now

I want to keep some distance

from every kind of attachment

I do not want

this merciless time

to leave me helpless

in front of another departure

Let people come

let people go

I have learned

not every passenger

is meant to reach

the final station with me

Because somewhere

beneath all these roads

all these faces

all these departures

there is another journey

one no one else can travel

the journey within

and on that journey

I am alone