End of Days

“At the End of the Road”
Painting by Janet Padens
From etsy.com

it’s the dying
this cold muddy slog
for the edge of the map

here where
roads long since
outran their pavement

converged into
one awkward route
no more mileposts left

distance down
now to counting
by stumbles and steps

this terrain
unfamiliar portends
an ungentle conclusion

fellow travelers
appear just as lost
nonetheless join in train

clear of eye
unafraid stoic ready
to rest from the journey

some not all
anticipate heaven
in reward of devotion

others wonder
or worry of wasting
all the miles left behind

still others
accept that life
simply cannot outlast death

all the same
their disparities
fall to their union here

end of days
waiting right where
we knew they would be