Picture and poem: ‘Homecoming’

The car comes straight at us,
exhaust blowing behind
like puffed up clouds
from Maxfield Parrish.

The clouds burst
like dandelions.

The road opens. 

Soon, the car slows
and turns smoothly
into a driveway, parks
next to a familiar tree. 

The driver steps out and
stretches to the sky.
She walks in
the front door, puts her keys
in a bowl, pets the dog. 

She kicks off her shoes,
drops her feet on the ottoman
after the day she's had.

She’s so tired she
forgets the toil of clouds,
The freedom of the open road,
her loneliness. 

She sleeps in her chair
she’s so weary from the drive.

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Works combined here have been used with permission. Photo by Matthew da Silva. Poem is by Robert Allen (Twitter: @RobertAllenPoet). If you’d like to submit a picture or a poem for use in this way, please feel free to get in touch.