Walking the Road

BY DENEJA ATKINS

Sullen,

sunken,

soul,

protection less soles, barefoot—

she is walking the road,

feeling everything when she steps.

A road prepared

just for her kind.

Walking the road, she is.

When she steps, she feels everything.

A concrete road

touched and constructed by white soles.

But she chose to walk the road and barefoot.

Willful ignorance

or ineptitude of common sense.

“Tread lightly on this road.”

Powerful

advice she ignored.

How can she even tread lightly on a road

with yellow and white lines?

Very much controlling her direction.

Take the grass.

It may take her longer.

The green grass warms

and hugs her soles.

Summer hitting concrete burns the soles.

Take the grass.

There is no direction

just an open space,

where the mind wanders freely.

An artist’s retreat.

A place to thrive

and an asylum.