The Map Don’t Show What I Forgot

I traced my route with blood and ash, Marked every mile that didn’t last But there’s a stretch the ink won’t find, Where I left pieces of my mind

There’s roads I took I don’t recall, And faces lost behind the fall I hold a compass out of spite — It spins like me most every night

The map don’t show what I forgot Ain’t no ink for the things time fought No legend drawn for names erased, Just empty towns and hollow grace I followed trails I shoulda not — But the map don’t show what I forgot

I asked the preacher where I’d been, He said I’d left too much within My saddle squeaks with stories missed, My hands still ache for things that slipped

The stars above don’t light my way, They blink like things I meant to say I ride with ghosts, they hum a lot — But none of them know what I forgot

The map don’t show what I forgot Where I buried dreams that came to rot The dirt remembers, but don’t speak, And mercy’s quiet when you’re weak I found the line, but not the plot — The map don’t show what I forgot

I fold the past and put it down, But it still rides from town to town

The map don’t show what I forgot No X to mark the haunted spot Just wind that calls and boots that drag, A hollow name on a tattered flag I rode too far, I bled the lot — But the map don’t show what I forgot

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