It was a long trek down that dusty road,
so she sat on the kerb and counted the stones
from her worn-down, second-hand shoes,
the blisters on her feet and a heartful of blues.
Reminded of years of promises and lies
by the tears on her face and the grit in her eyes,
she never looked back to where she’d come from,
but just kept following the path of the sun
until one day all the tears had dried,
she bought new shoes and kissed the past goodbye.
Kim M. Russell, 16th December 2019
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads: Western Stars
Marian greets us with a big sigh and her final music prompt for the Toads, with a song by Bruce Springsteen and a poem inspired by the late Ric Ocasek of The Cars.
Marian would like poems inspired by Bruce Springsteen, string sections, being glad your boots are on, aging cowboys, stones and lies, New Jersey, The Cars, 80s new-wave, lyrics and poetry, trying to hide your disgrace, Boston or anything else that comes up as the result of her prompt!
writing in north norfolk 
Such a beautiful and wise poem
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Thank you, Jae!
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Love, love. I can actually hear this as a song, which I think/hope is what you intended. Don’t look back, girl! Keep on. Thanks for this, Kim.
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Thank you so much, Marian!
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Great ending! (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe! I like it when the girl gets up and finds her feet again.
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This is so lyrical, it could be a popular song. Sadly, too many young girls could relate to this story.
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Heartfelt thanks, Kerry. I really wasn’t sure about this poem, but the comments so far are very positive.
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Wonderful work. Sail on, Sister.
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Thank you, Ron!
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This is the journey, indeed. And some of us took longer to make that turning.
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🙂
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Oh, there are times you gotta pull the stones from your shoes and press on. Kudos for not looking back!!
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Thank you, Susie!
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“second-hand shoes, the blisters on her feet and a heartful of blues.” Sigh … this poem tugs directly upon my heart! ❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa! ❤
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What a great poem to read I really loved it. Mind you my toes curled up a bit with the photo of the barefoot girl on the tarmac!
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Thank you, Robin. When I was a teenager, I always went barefoot. Now I wear Dr Martens!
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This is a song! Excellent!
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Thank you, Margaret!
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You captured the essence of Springsteen’s song in this ~~~~
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Thank you, Helen.
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I really love this, the way so many of us sometimes need to find those shoes
It really starts like the Springsteen song but actually the end reminds me more of another song…
“These boots are made for walking”
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🙂
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Love the sense in this poem. Yeppers. dump out those stones and keep on walking! Forward!
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Thanks Toni!
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Time never remains the same
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