- Placemats - 

She chose him
I know, I know
It has happened before
So I'm less emotional in July than I was in January
The tracks are still here
Railroad tracks that came here one stake at a time
They've been here since my grandfathers put then down when they moved west
Another train is bound to come next week
But that train, the one that just left
It will probably fall in love where it stops
Her mother will say it is for the best
To find a place where she calls home
Buy entry rugs and place mats and fine china and a house big enough to raise a family
So even if that train does comes back next January
Different people is what we'll be
With each passing moment
We choose between celibate minds and wandering hearts
Lives spent together or spent apart
We will make choices about what color our place mats will be
I'll pick blue, she'll pick green
So even if both paint
We'll choose different coats
Even if we both sing
We'll land on different notes
We both believed in God
But fell on different hopes
The same Church but different steeples
We are becoming different people
You'll throw tea parties and I'll be a Tory
You'll be off starting revolutions
And I'll be here wanting you to come home
But with each passing moment we say hello and goodbyes
So I'll try to stay here as I long as I can
But these tracks will not always breathe
Nails and planks will not always be streams
Rust will not always be put at bay
So one day I too must ride a train of my own
I'll think of you when I buy place mats
Knowing that you'll never sit at my table with me
And I wish this wasn't so

(NOTE: If you would like to purchase this poem please contact me at jared.s.carlin@gmail.com for personalized printing options. Thanks!)