Where The Tracks Diverge

I want to buy a ticket for a train,  
to go back in time when my children were small… when hugs meant everything,  
when scraped knees could be kissed away, and they looked for me in the crowd,
always knowing I’d be there.  

I long to hear the soft patter of their
feet on the floor,  
to feel the weight of their small
hands clutching mine,  
before the world taught them to stand taller, and lean on me less.

But somewhere along the way,  
the world called to them louder than my voice could, and the hands that once reached for me became fists of defiance.  

I want to board a train with no return,  
to ride through the days when they still needed me,  before the tracks diverged,  
before I lost them to stations I can’t reach.