THE HIGHWAYS OF OUR PAST (original poem)
Jul 20 '00
THE HIGHWAYS OF OUR PAST
In this, the age of interstates,
We've traded slow for fast
And seldom take the time to drive
The highways of our past:
Where barn roofs pitched Rock City,
Mail Pouch, and Mammoth Cave;
And batches of those roadside signs
Held verse by Burma Shave.
Where the route was shaded, here and there,
By canopies of trees;
Where lines of clothes by simple homes
Were blowing in the breeze.
Where a family's own produce
Was sold to passers-by;
And barefoot children ran with kites
To launch them towards the sky.
Where the place you chose for dinner
Could be called "one-of-a-kind;"
Where the road spread out before you
Had a gentle, scenic wind.
Where a rolling, sun-kissed valley
Could be viewed from mountain ridge;
And men and boys were fishing
From a singing metal bridge.
Where folks not only filled your car
But cleaned your windshield, too;
And wildflowers shone and sparkled
In the early-morning dew.
Where firefly stars surrounded you
When you drove in the night;
Where trees and graveyards took an eerie look
In full moonlight.
So take a little time out
When you need not go so fast
To drive, with gentle thoughtfulness,
The highways of our past.
Due to that thing we call "progress,"
Some of what once was is gone,
But, in many ways, on these roads
A simpler time lives on.
Ainsley Jo Phillips
In the 1992 Indiana Federation of State Poetry Clubs Fall Rendezvous Contest, the above poem received:
Category #8
Glenna Glee Award
First Honorable Mention
and was then printed in my chapbook, A TALE OF FIVE AUTUMNS, Copyright 1994 by Ainsley Jo Phillips.
Many such warm, magical places as I've written about in this poem can still be found, if you just take the time to leave the fast-lane and seek them out. Happy road-tripping! :o)
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