Journey
She walks in trains’ tracks,
never looks back just forward
like her ancestors.
She walks on train tracks
misplaced shadow journey-bound
she seeks to be found
she crosses country
follows train tracks through places
‘Merica forgot
Towns more strip mall than
home, rundown houses falling
tracks of empty land
Tumbleweeds blow past
she walks on, her shoulders hunched
hood hiding her face
Fabric can hide scars
to skin not those carved on souls
life’s cigarette burns
Leaves holes in her heart
where he applied the burned butt
smoke mixed with singed skin
Memories keep pace
slaps and screams she would forget
past won’t stay behind
It overtakes her
makes her stumble, ignore trains
should have stepped off tracks.
Diesel engine stares
rust face a suicide grin
bearing down on her.
Shoulders squared she walks
she met her fate on those tracks
played chicken with trains.
~ ~ ~
Shoulders squared, she walks….that was a OMG moment for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are most welcome
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLike
Bravo. Great imagery. metaphor, and words. You did this so well. Would love to read more write like this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
more stories in senryu form? Lucky for you I just penned one this morning 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Seriously? How fast do you do these things?
LikeLiked by 1 person
You don’t want to know…It would frighten you. I just have to do the artwork for it. It got busy here at the office and I haven’t had time to tackle that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok. I need to do some of that myself. Your presntation may be the best I have seen in Bloigworld. And I mean that. I would love to do that myself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂 I hope it grabs more eyes and invites them to read. I grew up reading comics books; I think that has had an effect on me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok, I can see how that would influence you. They look great.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this one Melinda. Bravo 👏👏👏👏👏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful. “Shoulders squared she walks.” Hope she continues to do so.
Love the image, too. Your creation? 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, the image was part of the prompt, but thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re most welcome. How has Tuesday been treating you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
good so far and you?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not bad. Tuesday’s almost ending for me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes it is 🙂 I am trying to catch up on my reading and trying to decide if I should try those Google Ad words to get some non-blogger traffic. What do you think about paid search campaigns?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Never tried it before but if you’re serious about blogging I think you should give it a shot. Especially if you want this to be an avenue to attract traffic to your books.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i do and it seems that I can’t count on bloggers for that. They want to read the books when they are published which is great but having an established audience who will buy the books could be my ticket to the big houses. I’m not sure whether I should self-pub the next book or give the pros a try. I’ve read so many horror stories and I work for a publisher. I know where the unsolicited stuff goes–a trash can.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly I know nothing about publishing a book so I can’t give any advice there. Yes having an established audience really helps. Do you have a big number of following here?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only about 0.035% of my followers actually visit each day so the total number of followers is irrelevant. Actually it’s probably less than that because I do get some organic search traffic from google but I’m not sure how much because the visitors aren’t broken down by source.
LikeLike
Do WordPress have some advanced analytics capabilities? Maybe if you have a premium plan. Can Google help you get the breakdown somehow? Subscription to their analytics services?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes and yes and yes that requires a paid account. I’m trying to make the most of the free stuff for now until I have a strong case for going the paid route.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah analytics is a big thing right now. Data is out there – you just need to know how to slice and dice it and know where the money really is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well right now I need the eyes. Once I have those I can work on the money but the eyes have come first. So that’s my quest right now 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t there a data mining app or s/w that could help you in the meantime?
Btw on another note – your comments are not threaded. Is that what you wanted?
LikeLiked by 1 person
oh no I want them threaded. There’s got to be an option for that somewhere…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes – WP Admin, Setting, Discussion, make sure the “Enable thread…” Box is checked.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just fixed it, thanks! I found some other settings to tweak too. 😀 if my site explodes, it’s because I was tinkering 🙂
LikeLike
The metaphor of the train tracks compared to her running from the abuse is perfect. A tale of strength mixed with quiet desperation!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Thank you! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the evocative imagery here…..Lovely! Hugs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hugs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hugs to you too! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
a vividly engrossing journey your words have painted, Mel. Great, as always. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
As well as being richly visual, this is quite a visceral portrait.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 🙂
LikeLike
Welcome 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is very good Melinda. A fascinating journey in itself through a persons life wandering the tracks….some lovely images that suggest always looking forward and a sense of inner pride about the character, the shoulders carried square……thanks so much for participating in the Tale Weaver….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you and your’re welcome, you picked one heck of an image 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you I like it too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haunting and sad. Beautiful form. She walks those tracks trying to live with her past, abus, being burnt with cigarettes and more. Sorrowful ending her meeting her end, being hit by a train, indeed playing chicken because she didn’t have it in her to live.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you 🙂 I wanted a happy end for her but she refused to cooperate. I’m hoping she jumped aside at the last minute.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 You’re welcome
LikeLike
This is really beautiful..:-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
Most welcome..:-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person