Twice a day

[ChristopherSea]

Shoulder bag and shoe dragged,
two point two miles – there and back again.
Class segregated by a ten plus one ratio,
colour rejected, sorted by red bricks or whitewash.

The brown eyed, mouse haired crew did not do blond and blue.
The shabby chic hand me downs, did not fit
amid a cat walk of polyester skirts
crisply iron shirts and the new style cuts.

The options were - walk in front, under the burn
of each predator’s turn to glare and torment;
or lag behind in frozen isolation, swallowed
by the creeping fog; the following Black Panther.

A footpath wound through up lit meadows,
but each hesitant step led directly to the dark tree
that creaked with the hanging bough.
Full of silent twigs with claws.

When the herd moves on, the damp drips of mist
soon cover the tracks of a lone beast. As the sunset breeze
moves the leaves and the land breathes out, small sounds
snap in the synapses of the hunter, who becomes the hunted.

Good Morning AJ,

This sounds like a daily commute of female students lead by a teacher (from the class ratio reference) to the park, past a crew of construction workers on their route perhaps. There are some great lines and images herein. I am not certain of the hunter and hunted theme. Elements are clearly throughout the second half of the poem. I loved the tree claws (I have a similar reference in an Easter poem that I am composing). It could be a generalized fear for an innocent flock of young ladies. The reversal of hunter and hunted makes me feel like they are on a scavenger hunt or a nature collecting trip, but then realize that predators are about. The daily routine throws me a bit, unless it's a tour guides charge. It could be metaphor for walking livestock from barn to pasture daily too. Just wanted to share my experience with you. Thanks for the post and read AJ. I will be curious as to others reaction, as well as the author's reveal, should it come. Cheers/Chris