[pct-l] The Lone Trail

[Lonetrail at aol.com (Lonetrail@aol.com)]

THE LONE  TRAIL 

Ye who know the Lone  Trail fain would follow it; 
Through it lead to  glory or the darkness of the pit. 
Ye who take the Lone  Trail, bid your love good-by; 
The Lone Trail, the  Lone Trail follow till you die 

The trails of the  world be countless, and most of the trails be  tried; 
You tread on the  heels of many, till you come where the ways divide; 
And one lies safe in  the sunlight, and the other is dreary and wan, 
Yet you look aslant  at the lone trail, and the Lone Trail lures you on 
And somehow you?re  sick of the highways, with its noise and its easy  needs, 
And you seek the risk  of the by-way, and you reck not were it leads 
And some times it  leads to the desert, and the tongue swell out of the  
mouth 
And you stagger blind  the mirage, to die in the mocking drouth. 
And sometimes it  leads to the mountain, to the light of a lonely  camp-fire 
And you gnaw your  belt in the anguish of the hunger-goaded desire. 
And sometimes it  leads to the southland; to the swamp were the Orchid  
glows, 
And you rave to the  grave with the fever, and they rob the corpse of its  
clothes. 
And sometimes it  leads to the northland, and the survey softens your  bones 
And your flesh dints  in like putty, and you spit out your teeth like  
stones. 
And sometimes it  leads to a coral reef in the wash of a weedy sea, 
And you set and stare  at the empty glare, were the gulls wait greedily. 
And sometimes it  leads to and Arctic trail and the snows of your torn feet  
freeze, 
And you whittle away  the useless clay, and craw on your hands and knees. 
Often it leads to the  dead pits; always it leads to pain; 
By the bones of your  brother ye know it, but oh, to follow you?re fain. 
By your bones they  will follow behind you, till the ways of the world are 
made  plain. 

Bid good-by to the  sweetheart, bid good-by to friend; 
Terry not, and fear  not, chosen of the true; 
Lover of the Lone  Trail, the Lone Trail waits for you. 



Evidently this was written years ago I  believe by a Robert Service. For the 
early followers of the Lone Trail it was  hard and brutal and often death but 
by following the heels and bones of others  and then yours the trail will 
become more adoptable for others to  follow. This reflects to the success of all 
the accomplishment today in our  world of trails 
Lonetail