Railway Passenger

 
Under cover of spring nights 
I ran for my life, north, 
reading the sky 
for my motionless lover, 
my lodestar, freedom,  
best chance of escape. 
True north, truly loyal. 
 
Dogs hunted me like an animal.  
I waded through 
Ohio and Potomac waters,  
travelled as a bundle  
of wood, a parcel sometimes. 
North Star bonded, fugitive slave,  
into Canada, no compass, no map. 

Maggie Mackay

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