Tempting Third Rails

20's say flirt with it
40's say not on my watch
60's say made it across the tracks

Home free

Off the retiree goes
golf course by day
country club by night

Home free...not quite

Off the semi-retiree goes
part time work at home by day
TV at night for vicarious ventures

All sense

Third rail respect
sees no difference
from 20 to 60 and beyond
grasps third rail warnings
never flirts
never assumes immunity'
never considers getting too far
out on one's limb

Third rail addiction
knows not retirement
always ready to open locked doors
wanders through parks at night
views chance as mind-transfusion

Existence-rides
like a a subway schedule
come along less often after sundown
making but fewer choices
these starts and stops

Still

Anxious rush hours easily avoided
provide but leisure movement
car to car
platform to platform
late nights
early mornings
have-tos no more

Spoil alert

Choice is king
always has been
third rail its queen
always reminding
"Beware"

For

Just as "Danger"
is merely another person's way
of saying "ne touche pas"
so too
Life's third rail
says "heed" to some
"come closer" to others

Flirting learned early
remains an option
an awareness
a forever reminder
forward motion never proceeds by itself

Hear it now
Time's playful third rail
the click and clack
the spark and fire of mischief's soul