The Byway--By Kathryn McLoughlin Collins--United States

The Byway

I may have been a place or two
Where your foot’s fallen or wishes to.
I have known a decibel of fright,
shrieked aloud in the cold dark night

In braveness, have you reached in aid?
In kindness have you sought to save
Sweet precious feelings of a friend
And sacrificed your own true end?

Stoop not at indignity nor
Puff and gel in praise.
Both fade fickle in the light;
Melt away in haze.

We’ll not be judged on cleverness.
Instead we will succeed
On our state of readiness
To lend a hand in need.

Born in 1945, Kathryn Collins is a native New Yorker now living in Connecticut whose works have been described as “a gentle sort of poetry” by the editor of her first book No Need for Breadcrumbs, published by BeWrite Books, 2004. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies. Inspired by her beloved grandmother, she developed a great love of poetry at an early age and has been writing for 20 years.