7
earned journey
~
8:48
Sunday morning
80 degrees already
but they say it's gonna rain
I'm walking on hot concrete
past dog-walkers and lawn-mowers and church-goers
and signs that say 'one way,' with their arrows drawn against me
~
my bag contains a corset, a camera, and the receipt from a bar tab I don't remember paying
I am wearing a T-shirt and sweat pants
and four-inch tall, jet-black stilettos
because I packed inappropriately for this mis-adventure
and everybody knows
or thinks they know
I wish I were that sure about something
~
and then, because God has a sense of humor
just in time to step over it instead of on it
I see a stick of hot pink rock candy
dropped, discarded, shattered in some places, pristine in others
and melting into this road with me
~
ten minutes later I am half-way back to where I abandoned my car and so much else
my joints hurt
at every place I come together I am aware of myself
these bags are heavy
heavier than I remember them being when I set out
and that guilt I had been praying for
is finally settling in
~
the sun is out from behind that cloud
we are both exposed
I want to stop
to rest
to not be seen for a little while
but there is no turning back now
I said I was going home
I left a note
I locked the door behind me
I've come this far
I'm committed
Shannon Goleman is a freelance writer born in New Orleans in 1978 and currently residing in Carrollton/ Denton, Texas. She has been writing as a hobby for the last 20+ years and served as managing editor for her collegiate newspaper. She holds a degree in Mass Communications with a minor in Marketing and is currently employed with The Denton Publishing Company, The Wow Signal Music Company and as a freelance promotions manager.
Her current writing can be found at www.whatimightbe.blogspot.com
Shannon eats with her hands and takes pictures of her feet. She talks too much and touches people too much. She speaks mostly in quotes and lyrics. She is affected, has an addictive personality and a tendency to obsess. She has diagnosed herself with all sorts of psychological disorders, but would rather not be medicated for fear of suddenly having nothing to write about. Writing is her confession and her therapy. Shannon pays attention and takes good care of the people she loves. She recently started letting people in again. She expects to get hurt but has decided it's worth it. Of all the people Shannon has ever been, she like s this one best.
