Sunday, January 26, 2014

Drive Out of State


long-way.jpg by George Hodan



Drive Out of State

They drove to the country one state after another
crushed under their wheels, rushing to her parents
She held the baby, nearly a toddler now
Sleeping on her lap - they had figured out
just how to facilitate this "disjointed aspect"
of their marriage - figured out just how to sustain
at the very least the friendship once felt
They left their lives in the city, just for a time
plans packed, labeled, left in cardboard boxes
eyes straight ahead visualizing the small house
on flat land, the future they would write
in the simplicity of waving fields of wheat
once again in the soft embrace of unison
Somewhere, maybe in Iowa, they slowed
on a relentlessly straight, low skied road
She lifted a stuck strand of hair from the baby's
flushed, damp, slumbering cheek
He rolled the car onto the soft shoulder
and with as much road behind them as
stretching ahead -
they stared into and
at each other
and with a silent separate sigh
The juggling ended
All of it -
Just like that
and they knew, that it did not matter
which direction they resumed
their destination was the same

18 comments:

  1. Oh, Pearl... I hope they didn't do what I think they did!

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  2. Oh my Laurie - I too hope not ... Thanks for stopping and commenting - you know it is always appreciated

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  3. hummmm.....slice of life, what happens next, without number....

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  4. Yes that end line really does leave you hanging..maybe all roads lead to nowhere though and life lies with the people in the car..I hope!

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  5. Wow, Pearl. You wrote the life of these two people very well. Sad that they married in the first place really. Now what will they do, I wonder, now that they both realize they are heading nowhere. Sad especially for the baby. This poem needs a sequel.

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  6. Whoa. This is exactly what that situation is like. Though these two had more awareness than some and didnt drag it on for years.......the "nowhere' at the end is the perfect word. Poor baby girl!

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  7. A journey beautifully concluded Pearl - great work... With Best Wishes Scott www.scotthastiue.com

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  8. Intriguing write, Pearl. It leaves the reader wondering what happens next.

    Pamela

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  9. Gosh, this is such a heartbreaking poem, and unfortunately, felt by many young couples nowadays.

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  10. Yikes! How can they even think such a thing when they have a beautiful child?! This is too sad!!

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  11. much captured in few words; life, despair, tragedy...

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  12. Your whole poem rests on that one last word. An unexpected twist, a surprise, slammed home with a mountain of feelings. Really good writing Pearl,

    Elizabeth

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  13. A wonderful story-telling poem: the visual imagery made it all very real for me.

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  14. It is not quite a good feeling when a destination is not ascertained. A journey to no where is a journey unfulfilled. Great write Dr Pearl!

    Hank

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  15. I like the ending. Nowhere, yet somewhere together.

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  16. This is so poignant, Pearl.
    "with as much road behind them as
    stretching ahead"

    Indeed. So true, always, in so many ways. Love this.

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  17. I lot of tears at the end of this one. A familiar road for far to many . . .

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  18. the family element breaking everywhere...why? indeed a sequel will be a greater poem, so truly expressed with a flow rhythm and pace in the lines-life is so short

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