Skip to main content

 

The Eclectic Pen - You Can Never Go Back

By: Lisa C. (IrishHillbilly)   + 8 more  
Date Submitted: 4/26/2007
Last Updated: 4/26/2007
Genre: Literature & Fiction » Poetry
Words: 298
Rating:

Goats in a cave beside a two-lane dirt track of a road A tangled collage of ragweed and sumac jutting out of the hillside Back in time at least fifty years, to a quieter place Bear Branch and Homebrew Holler - rutted out old roads Leading to places, vanished or banished to the distant past Yet we are looking for a home As we journey, I peek into my imagination and I see Our mother, a skinny young girl, with her long red hair Pulled back and tied with a faded but precious scrap of pink ribbon Three little boys toddling around in the small grassy yard, One hanging onto her dress with grubby, chubby fingers She's just a girl, yet forced to be a woman What are we looking for older brother? I wonder Is this familiar to you, or just a vague faded memory of days gone by A time when we tried to be a family, but somehow failed so miserably? We are searching for your memories, not mine I am the baby mother gave away, because she couldn't take care of one more God had other plans for me An old white clapboard church at the mouth of Bear Branch, That's where the snake handler's worshipped God, we've heard You say you remember being there, I doubt it, but what do I know About your past? It's so green in these hollers, and so quiet, the crickets are so loud; The car seems out of place, and out of time, kind of eerie, even I don't think we'll find the old home place, dear brother We are unprepared; your memories are just small wisps of forgotten hope And I'm too young to remember those times I believe the sad fact is, the old home place has disappeared forever, Perhaps only to survive in the memories of mother, dad, and you, And besides, like they say, "You can never go back". 08/22/91 LSF

The Eclectic Pen » All Stories by Lisa C. (IrishHillbilly)

Member Comments

---

Comments 1 to 4 of 4

Comments 1 to 4 of 4