Sydney Road

"I want a ride to Sydney,"
She said, with crooked smile.
"To hitch a ride, I mean Love,
I s'pose it takes a while."

"And where's the place to wait Love –
I guess you'd know the ropes."
I smiled back then, while wondering
What happened to her hopes.

Those hopes we all start out with,
That life will be so good,
And that someone will love us,
And things go as they should.

Her face was taut with misery,
Her eyes puffed up and red.
Her shoulders drooped with sadness,
For all her hopes were dead,

She had a nice big suitcase,
She'd packed it good and tight,
As though she thought possessions
Could comfort her in flight.

I dropped her on the highway,
She said she'd "Have a try."
But I could see that she was scared,
And trying not to cry.

I heard back sometime later,
That she had played around,
And that her husband kicked her out,
Because of what he found…

I can't forget that woman,
Her lovely, tragic face…
I wonder how I'd manage,
If I were in her place.

I know that I can't blame her,
I couldn't cast a stone,
No one should travel on that road,
Unhappy and alone.