#61

[Mira]

And I pass, as a shadow, down the road, thru the night.

The hard packed dirt crunches softly under my footfalls,

As songs of crickets and cicadas rise up to crescendo,

And the Palemoon slips silently behind a cloud.

The sound of a train in the distance pierces the dark,

And the long lonesome highway whispers over the miles.

I long to be there, for I am a wanderer, a walker, a man.

And I pass, as a shadow, down the road, thru the night.

[word_eyes]

Interesting... I love your word choice. I'm curious to know where the number 61 is in all of this. The number in spirit, placed into the poem made me think of the sorrow age brings; that feeling of alone. When I read this poem, I thought about an old man, around 61 and in a wheelchair, stairing out of the window of an old folks home. The only thing he has to look forward to, is that every morning, the birds chirp, and sometimes, the shadow of his son casts over the ground; but never his son. I thought about that road he wished to be on, being to see his family one last time. Little does he know, at the end of the highway, there is a dead end. Literally though, since the number wasn't incorperated, I saw it as someone who barely gets by.... Like... poverty. Unless you're walking under a street light, you can rarely see your shadow at night. Like, this person struggles, doing for themselves, trying to survive, and no one notices them, no one see's that this person is in need of help, yet still they're not helpless.... At any rate, good poem. Do me a favor, tell me what you meant it to be.

[Mira]

While I enjoy you sharing the image the poem gave you with the number I regret to tell you that it is nothing of consequence. Simply that, instead of titleing many of my poems I just number them. Its much easier that way.

 

As for the actually meaning of the poem, I might have to say that there really isn't an underlying message, just an underlying mood. I was struck with the opening and closeing line while I was walking down the road at about 2 A.M. and the whole poem was really just ment to convey what I saw, heard, and felt at the time. The last few lines that deal with trains and highways I suppose reflect a bit of wanderlust that dwells inside me. Finally the line "And I pass, as a shadow, down the road, thru the night." really reflects the mood of walking by the handful of houses without notice.