FOOTSTEPS

I recently walked the Appalachian Trail!…I know…please do not begrudge me…

well…in truth I only stopped and walked a little…I know…I know… don’t judge me!

Where was I, oh yes, the Appalachian Trail…

In the short time I was on it…in the little I did explore

I found myself seeing shadows…of those who walked before.

I could see their shadows walking by…all of them smiling and alert.

and as they passed I bowed my head…and saw their footsteps in the dirt.

I have hiked up in the mountains…and seen footsteps on the land.

I have walked along our beaches…and seen footsteps in the sand.

But it occurred to me there on the AT…in those few strides I took

that the footsteps we leave behind in life…deserve a closer look.

For no matter where we walk today…on the land or on the shore

we all walk in the footsteps of those who came before.

And each footstep tells a story…it marks a time…a place…a day

A memory that will linger

long after those footsteps wash away.

And I found myself wondering…on this lonely wooded lane

What were the people like who left these footsteps?

What memories of them remain?

And I wondered about those of us alive today.

Will we be remembered as compassionate and kind?

What memories will be inscribed

In the footsteps we leave behind?