Stone Barracks — Fort Ridgely State Park, Nicollet County, Minnesota.

A stone railroad bridge quietly carries trains across the Minnesota countryside. Beneath it, the road waits in stillness while the iron road above continues its journey.

An aging wooden wagon rests beside a white fence in rural Minnesota, a quiet reminder of the tools that once powered everyday farm life.

Polished chrome and quiet engines sit beneath the bleachers of a small-town fairground. Machines once built for the open road now gather peacefully, reminders of another American era.

Somewhere in a small Minnesota town, a young man once sat here before boarding a train bound for war. The snow has melted many times since then, but the bench remains, quietly holding the memory of those who never returned.

In the early years of the twentieth century, trains carried Minnesotans across the country and sometimes across the world. During the war years, small depots like this became places of quiet goodbyes.

This piece began as a class assignment to bring poetry into a public space. Rather than standing in the park and reading her poem aloud, the writer chose a different approach. She wrote the poem across the walkway in chalk, allowing the words to remain long after any voice would have faded. For a time, anyone passing through the park could pause, read, and carry the poem with them.