Toll Mine To Pay Poem by Kurt Philip Behm

My road deeply potholed,
with those left behind

Resurfaced with pain,
all casualties mine

A road often fatal,
to family and friends

No roses to line it,
as it twisted and bent

When forced to look back,
I see nothing but blood

From my hands to the cradle,
on those that I've loved

If you ask me my reason
for acting this way

With eyes straight ahead,
I'd have nothing to say

With the road getting shorter,
compressed in the light

Behind me those bodies,
that questioned my flight

The deeper I travel,
newer endings begin

This toll mine to pay
—heading further within

(Villanova Pennsylvania: July,2017)