HOME STRETCH
My three-day road trip
Is nearly over
I leave the last motel
Just five more hours to go
The closer I come to home
I want to stretch it out
Delay my arrival
Stay suspended
Not here, not there
Just anonymous
Floating
Invisible.
First day was fast and furious
On the interstate monster highway
Second day I took
County roads
Weaving through midwest farm towns
Wondering at their smallness
Now on this third day
The final day
I'm an explorer
Venturing off the road
Over the train tracks
Into towns and neighborhoods
Leaving my car
To stroll through one-bench parks
To read a book
In the shade of a towering tree
Where no one knows me
Just an out-of-town license plate.
The five more hours
Have stretched into ten
As I slowed and savored
And stayed suspended
Anonymous
Floating
Invisible.
When I drive up to my house
It's evening
And I'm me again.
(another poem by Vicki Patschke)
(another poem by Vicki Patschke)
Posts
You have to have grown up in a small town to really appreciate this poem. Oh yes, and how do you make the rear end of car look so poetic?
ReplyDelete@origa-me > my siblings and I grew up in Japan at at time and in an area where foreigners were rare, and we were always under observation. One of the cool things about living in/visiting America is that we can become invisible for brief periods of time, like the road trip described in the poem.
Deletethank you for the lovely postcard!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
@Elizabeth > Glad to hear it reached you safely! Thanks for visiting my blog. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog. Very nice Etegami (which is a new word I just learned today from you)
ReplyDelete