February 2007 | Back to Table of Contents

End Notes

The Firebreak Road

By Harrison Farley, M.D.

There’s something familiar and comfortable
About an old gravel firebreak road.
It may lead nowhere
In particular, but it can serve more than one purpose.

My firebreak road is narrow; birch and maple and oak trees encroach from either side.
It is plain in many respects, yet seemingly constructed
For one to walk while struggling for answers to the world’s many problems.

I sometimes walk the road and raise issues with the One in charge.
When I reach the end though, I have no solution, yet I somehow feel better.
Time spent in such solitude allows me to gain perspective, I think.

In the fall, the nondescript road undergoes a true metamorphosis.
The overhead green changes to a heavenly canopy of yellow and red and gold.
Then, as if by signal,
The leaves fall to earth like petals strewn in the path of a reigning queen,
Regal and very special.
Then my stroll becomes one filled with humility and awe.

In the winter with snow covering the ground, the scene becomes barren, a void
Between stick-like trees. I still enjoy walking it, for I can anticipate spring
And what is to come. Look closely and I can see the buds that signify hope.
Yes, the process will repeat itself.

This firebreak road is in Stone Lake, Wisconsin.
I hope you have such a road to walk.
If not, I suggest you seek one out.
Should you live long enough, you may need it.

Harrison Farley is a retired surgeon living in St. Paul.