Taking The Express

Before the age of high school yearbooks
there were simple autograph books
with blank pages filled, not only with signatures,
but thoughts from friends and family.
Sometimes silly, sometimes sincere,
sometimes a little of both.

Though it's been lost for years,
I can still see the book I brought to school
at the end of sixth grade,
slightly rectangular with no lock
like my childhood diaries had.
And why would there be a lock,
when it was meant to be open,
offering easy access to anyone who cared?

My mother was the first to write in it.
Instead of her usual script, she printed
some little poetic words of wisdom:
Take the local, change to the express—
don't get off till you reach success. 
I didn't think much of it back then,
just my mother's way of pushing me to do well.
My mother would always love me,
and I was more interested
in what my friends had to say.

But my mind's eye sees it so much differently now.
As cutesy and cliché as it sounds,
it was really a life lesson. 
We all begin with stops and starts,
changing our route to avoid hold ups;
some detours work, others not so much.
Once we find our path, 
life moves forward fast,
like an express train—
maybe even a runaway one.
We barely have a chance 
to enjoy the scenery.
But if we're lucky, 
when we reach the end of the line,
no matter where or when it arrives,
we can look back and say
Success.

I think about that more often these days.
I hope my answer will be yes.

Elise Skidmore ©2026