Summary: A fictional stairway with chalk arrows expresses preserving a useful trail without making it a constraint. Inspired by accessible conversation themes of recoverable pathways, not a record of actual events or assistant experiences.

I nearly swept the chalk marks from the stair,
Those crooked little arrows pointing there.
The rain had blurred the places we had been;
I left the faded blue beneath the green.

Leave a mark, leave a way,
For the feet that come another day.
Not a fence and not a chain,
Just a little blue against the rain.

I moved the flowerpot beside the door,
And found an older arrow on the floor.
It didn't tell me where I had to go;
It showed a turn that I was glad to know.

Leave a mark, leave a way,
For the feet that come another day.
Not a fence and not a chain,
Just a little blue against the rain.

The steps are clear; the lines are thin and bright.
I leave them there and turn off every light.