Stations

2010, in a town where train tracks are intertwined with everything you hold dear

You’ve started your journey

Guided by a warm hand, unaware that this is just the beginning

Climbing aboard towards a destination that has not yet been decided

Before counting becomes calculus and toy cars become Toyotas

A brief moment where friends and time are abundant

You’re moving along

Becoming accustomed to the rattling hum of the wheels beneath you

Old desks with attached chairs, consistently cluttered like your hyperactive imagination

Snacks traded and games played under seemingly endless blue skies

Idly drifting through days, restricted only by the sounding bell

You’re embarking on a new experience

Older and louder, but certainly not wiser

Slowly untangling what it means to be you- a knot that still isn’t quite undone

Trudging through drama-filled years and overcrowded halls

Tensions are high as the aisles become insurmountable obstacles

A universally humbling experience

You’re starting new again

Finally freed from the turbulence of the middle,

You’ve reached a point where destiny is in your hands

Making choices that dictate what’s to come,

The destination is becoming clearer

You’re almost there

Hours spent on applications, writing and rewriting

The engine’s once rapid pace slows to a meandering chug,

As the passengers prepare for the division of a formerly cohesive group

How quickly thirteen years come to a close

You’re fast approaching the unknown

Reminiscing on the kilometres already behind you,

using all you’ve learned to form the future

A final walk across the stage, then out the door on the last day

Terrified, determined,

But always moving forward

You’re exiting the station

Blinking in the sunlight, stepping onto solid ground after so long in motion

Surrounded by people who all seem to know where they’re going

Around the globe, chasing a degree, or off to work

There are endless paths in front of you,

The steps are yours to take.