Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • Earth Song
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

On the Road

By Charity Singleton Craig 19 Comments

I’m on the road more lately, traveling between the two cities where my heart lives. I drive up and down a two-lane highway most days, watching crops grow and leaves turn and women changing out their flower pots to reflect the seasons.

“I love to look at the flowers at this house, ” I told my love one day as we passed by together. “She changes the flowers every so often.”

“I have never even noticed that, ” he said, which was remarkable since he drives by at least twice as much as I do. The flower pots, they were so vibrant and big and many.

A few weeks later I realize I haven’t even looked at the flowers for several days. And now, glancing over as my car barrels past, the pots are empty. The cold nights and crystalline frosts caused the leaves to turn black, no doubt. A woman in love with flowers as much as she was would never leave plants with blackened leaves in the pots.

Empty, sit the pots. No flowers to notice. Not that I would anymore.

Although I do know where the policeman sits in the little town with just the one stoplight and the 30 mph speed zone. I track progress on the construction project where they are fixing a drainage issue, and I monitor how long the detour signs will remain. When those signs go down, my route will change.

The signs have always been there since I started making this trip.

I think of Jack Kerouac on the road, and his autobiographical work I could never bring myself to read. I think of all the road-trip narratives about growing up and coming of age in broken-down vans in the middle of the desert. I think road trips should be about leaving and arriving, but mine is about leaving and arriving, over and over again.

Cars pass. Or rather, people pass in cars. They drive, therefore they are. Interestingly, I’m not the only one on the road, though it feels that way.

Tires roll, pavement heats, trees and buildings and people pass by quickly, melding into smudges on a canvas that I call life.

Life on the road.

I call my mom.

I turn on the radio.

I ride in silence.

I pray.

Sometimes, when it’s dark, and I imagine the deer congregating along the shoulder of the rural highway, I change routes and find my way home on a four-lane, then six-lane, then eight-lane interstate. Sometimes I see flashing lights and twisted metal and grief in the construction zones. Once, I saw my own life flash before my eyes as I dozed off and woke to the rumble strips.

My head bobbed tiredly the rest of the way home. But at least I arrived.

The next day I left again.

Photo by Reckless Dream Photography. Creative Commons license via Flickr. Post by Charity Singleton.

__________________________

Buy a year of Every Day Poems, just $2.99— Read a poem a day, become a better writer. In November we’re exploring the theme Surrealism.

Every Day Poems Driftwood

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Charity Singleton Craig
Charity Singleton Craig
Charity Singleton Craig is the author of The Art of the Essay: From Ordinary Life to Extraordinary Wordsand co-author of the popular title On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life That Lasts. She has served as an editor, contributing writer, and workshop leader for Tweetspeak Poetry and currently writes for corporate clients and publications such as Edible Indy. She is also a two-time recipient of the Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, to write about the state parks and present writing programs to park visitors.
Charity Singleton Craig
Latest posts by Charity Singleton Craig (see all)
  • Grammar for a Full Life Book Club: On Becoming Less Possessive - June 16, 2021
  • Grammar for a Full Life Book Club: Chilling Out on the Grammar Rules - June 9, 2021
  • Grammar for a Full Life Book Club: A Passive Voice - June 2, 2021

Filed Under: Blog, poetry

Try Every Day Poems...

About Charity Singleton Craig

Charity Singleton Craig is the author of The Art of the Essay: From Ordinary Life to Extraordinary Words and co-author of the popular title On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life That Lasts. She has served as an editor, contributing writer, and workshop leader for Tweetspeak Poetry and currently writes for corporate clients and publications such as Edible Indy. She is also a two-time recipient of the Arts in the Parks and Historic Sites Grant from the Indiana Arts Commission and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, to write about the state parks and present writing programs to park visitors.

Comments

  1. Maureen Doallas says

    November 7, 2012 at 8:59 am

    Even though I know how dangerous the deer along the road can be at this time of year, every time I’m driving at night and see those eyes glistening in the trees, I feel enchanted. We still have deer and rabbits, even wolves, that show up around Arlington, but especially deer. They come right up to homes. The forested area along the Potomac toward Chain Bridge is still populated with them. They are at once magnificent and trouble.

    I must admit, too, that I never finished Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’.

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 7, 2012 at 9:54 am

      I have never actually had a direct deer hit, though I did run over a deer that was hit by the car in front of me. They are beautiful. In Indiana, the deer population has greatly diminished because of a disease brought on by the summer’s drought. They still scare me, though.

      Reply
  2. Monica Sharman says

    November 7, 2012 at 9:25 am

    What?! You mean after we’ve arrived, we have to leave again? 🙂

    I thoroughly enjoyed this, Charity. Thank you. (And I, too, have blessed rumble strips.)

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 7, 2012 at 9:49 am

      Monica – Isn’t that a funny metaphor we have exacted from travel – that we have “arrived”? And oh, those rumble strips. Yes!

      Reply
  3. Susan Squires says

    November 7, 2012 at 9:38 am

    “Cars pass. Or rather, people pass in cars.” I love that perspective shift.

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 7, 2012 at 9:50 am

      Susan – That perspective shifts back and forth for me. Sometimes, I think I am the only one of the road, that the drivers who cut me off aren’t really people. We are a lot of loners, we who are in the car so much.

      Reply
  4. Matthew Kreider says

    November 7, 2012 at 10:17 am

    So well done, Charity! I recognize those roadside rhythms and visions. Maybe you could listen to Kerouac on audio? But I don’t think you need to bother. You’re already on the road. Or will be soon. 🙂

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 7, 2012 at 4:12 pm

      Matthew – I’ve always felt to be a bit of a sham to call myself a reader and to even have spent a bit of time in the English department of a university and never read Kerouac. At this point, it just seems to late. But to listen to him . . . there might be something to that!

      Reply
  5. Megan Willome says

    November 7, 2012 at 11:50 am

    This is prose poetry, Charity. I love this, like pulling up a window shade to see into one view of your life.

    (And deer are a menace. They kill perfectly innocent cars.)

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 7, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      Megan, I like that: prose poetry. Sometimes, a little stream of consciousness is just what a person needs! (and yes, menace is a good word!)

      Reply
  6. Diana Trautwein says

    November 7, 2012 at 10:04 pm

    I loved this. LOVED it. Can almost here the clickety-clack of the road and the thrum of those rumble strips. And so sweet to read the words ‘my love’ in this particular reverie. I just somehow feel content reading it. Thanks for that – cuz life is a bit cruddy these days and contentment is in short supply.

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 9, 2012 at 9:17 am

      Diana – I’m sorry about the “cruddiness” of life just now. It’s interesting that you mention contentment, because I think I started writing this post because I was discontent with all the time on the road, though I am completely content with the reasons for my driving. When I started writing about it, I realized that these times in the car might be accomplishing something *in* me, not just moving me from one place to the next.

      Reply
  7. Shar Boerema says

    November 9, 2012 at 8:31 am

    Charity, I feel the loss of your ” love”… and the corresponding emptiness. Beautiful writing.

    Reply
    • Charity Singleton says

      November 9, 2012 at 9:19 am

      Shar – Thanks for commenting and for your encouragement! Thankfully, the only loss I currently am experiencing with my “love” is that I have to go home at the end of the day, and so does he. But we very much love the time we are spending together.

      Reply
  8. Ann Kroeker says

    November 10, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    I love being on the road with you, Charity, here in this piece, and when we chat, the times you check in with me. Now I will imagine the flowers flying past when we’re chatting about our lives and loves.

    Reply
  9. Jan Cole says

    November 21, 2012 at 6:13 am

    I loved this post, Charity, and I sure do miss you.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. John Steinbeck's California - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    February 27, 2013 at 10:56 am

    […] I had determined to spend some time in San Francisco visiting the hang-outs of the beat poets, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, among others. I’d walk along Russell Street, hoping the loose culture of the […]

    Reply
  2. Steinbeck’s California: A Literary Journey | Charity Singleton Craig says:
    April 9, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    […] I had determined to spend some time in San Francisco visiting the hang-outs of the beat poets, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, among others. I’d walk along Russell Street, hoping the loose culture of the […]

    Reply
  3. Charity Singleton Craig » On the Road, with apologies to Jack Kerouac says:
    January 6, 2014 at 9:35 pm

    […] sit the pots. No flowers to notice. Not that I would anymore.  :: CONTINUE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY ::Today I am writing over at Tweetspeak, a premier play-place for poets, word lovers, artists and […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our May Menu

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

The Graphic Novel

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

How to Write Poetry

Your Comments

  • Glynn on World War II Had Its Poets, Too
  • Sandra Fox Murphy on World War II Had Its Poets, Too
  • Glynn on Poets and Poems: Kelly Belmonte and “The Mother of All Words”
  • Bethany R. on Poets and Poems: Kelly Belmonte and “The Mother of All Words”

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions
  • • The Write to Poetry

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2025 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy