[p o e t r y]

The Train

(01-25-19)

I would like to think
That I'm the type of person
Who would switch the tracks
And save the train
When forced to choose
Between the train of strangers
And my own son

I have no proof
As to which decision
I would make
I am, afterall
Only a child myself
I have no child to call my own

Yet, if you were
To place my 11 year old brother
On the tracks in place
of an inexistent son
I would still wish to be the person
Who would save the train
Yet I could not be that person
I would choose the life
Of my own kin
Over the lives of
a thousand strangers
Without hesitation

Only after I would have watched
The tracks shudder
With the impact
Of a train of strangers collapsing
Crumpling
Chaotically dying
Would I have stopped to think
And to regret
That I could've saved the lives
Of a thousand people
A thousand little brothers
Not my own kin
But the kin of others
Equally as important as myself
And their lives
Equally as meaningful
As my own brother's.

I suppose the reason
I write this poem
Is because a year ago
I would've chosen the strangers'
Without fail
I would've regretted the death
Of my precious brother, yes
But I would've
made the logical choice
I could've chosen the greater good
Over personal importance
But now,
Things have changed
I would choose my family
Over all else in this world

Perhaps my priorities
-my family-
Are misplaced
Perhaps the train
Would be the wrong choice
Yet my own
would be the choice I made
Wether that be
weakness or greatness
I hope I never have to find out
I merely accept that
this is how I am
Family first
Others second
Myself last.