Cattle Trails

I remember the cattle trails of my youth

worn smooth by many hooves and easy

to follow. They were often a road home

from the fishing pond for a barefoot boy.

The cattle had a reason for the paths they

chose, and once chosen they became the

way to traverse the hills and hollows they

grazed. Those narrow threads through the

bahia grass each had a beginning and end,

forks and cross paths. I realize now that

they were teaching me not only about 

cattle, but about who I was and am now.