Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Out there in the west of Oklahoma
on the road to Amarillo,
the wind blows heavy on the dry, dusty land,
abandoned houses lean in weariness,
the towns are small and dreaming
of a time when the signs were unbleached,
and the vast white sky swallowed
the voices of children

Dwindled are they, the children,
grown and gone to the city
where life is easy and the pace hot
with the urgency of tomorrow,
and the fear that the shine wears
from the comforts of yesterday.
They wonder now
at the emptiness they feel.

And back home
in Oklahoma,
the old folks sit on the porch
in the sun and the dry,
missing the kids but knowing why,
their place is here in the past,
for who else will tend
the memories?


Word count: 132, lines 24
Free verse
The North Remembers, Travel Marvel Prompt 29
Prompt: A godforsaken town in Oklahoma and you're stuck there!