Hate The Road Home

-Hate The Road Home-
by Keaton Foster


Down
Across
The spine
Of spent time
Over there
There is a road
One that I know
One well traversed
Every step
Like a knife
A well-used blade
Inside this mind
Each detail
Fills the void
Back
So long ago
When I was a child
A forgotten boy
Left walking
For miles on end
Escaping home
Knowing
That as far as I went
Ultimately
I would have to return
Abused is this soul
Broken is every hole
Damaged beyond life
Yet here I am
Very much alive
Those who hurt me
Those who destroyed me
All, since deceased
But what they meant
How they impacted me
Is very much alive
Inside my bones
Under my flesh
Part of this soul
Hate the road home
The only way to go
Way back then
And unfortunately now
I could tell you
Every absolute
Each painful detail
I know how many trees
I know every damn seam
The way the crown
Of the long straight road
Slowly rolls to the shoulder
Each empty barn
Every vacant pasture
Each farmer wondering
Why is such a young boy
Walking so far home
So much alone
None of them
Not a single one
Ever dared to stop me
They knew my father
They knew my mother
I can only assume
That their silence
Was justified by ignorance
Over what those monsters
Did to me and my siblings
Hate the road home
Never since the day that I left
Have I ever wanted to return
When everyone died
When the monsters of my life
And now my mind
Left this world behind
The home was bulldozed
The land set ablaze
Cultivated and then sold
To one of the many farmers
Along the pavement sown
The road no longer goes
To where it once did
But for me
That changes nothing
Because the steps
The curves
The ups and downs
Each line and crack
All of it is exactly the same
Hate the road home
Back that way I’ll never go
I’ve walked it too much
I fear that I’ve made that journey
More than anyone ever should…



Hate The Road Home
Written by Keaton Foster Copyright © 2014.