The Paths I Walked

I am ending
the journeys along certain roads.

Each of those roads I chose
in a thundering, pouring storm,
keeping close to the edges of the trees,
to gather upon my crown
the great raindrops
that shattered against branches and leaves.

When the rain stopped,
when it would not fall again,
the leaves withered,
the branches dried,
and the roads I had walked became desert.

I trod on the parched, cracked earth.
My feet blistered,
my soul wilted,
my heart was scorched to cinders.