The Lost Steps

The writer to whom allusion is being made below may not have been entirely original.
As I understand it, the phrase originated in Europe.
It also seems that at a time it may have been related to certain rites.
In other words, were you to fail in performing as indicated, all your steps would be lost i.e., useless.
The lost steps room is also the name given to rather ornate chambers in places like the Argentine Congress, where visitors are taken to 'cool their heels.'
In any case, here is my latest attempt at poetry.   

The Lost Steps

The waiting lounge  
in every train station
—think also bus depot
or airport, it's all the same—
this writer used to say
is to be called 
the lost steps room. 
 
In there 
the steps you take 
will take you 
nowhere.  

Walking on the treadmill   
at the gym   
I've often wondered   
whether my steps there
are taking me 
anywhere 
—other than, hopefully, better health!

And how about the ones   
I take while   
dreaming of you along   
my secluded bike path   
where the breeze   
whispers me your name   
in the rustle of the palm leaves. 

Don't know for sure   
but here is hoping that   
lost steps they aren't   
—not anymore.