Honing the Craft

Week 4 Crossing Over

Crossing Over

There are five crosswalks
striped on the roads
of my little village.
Four at the four-way stop
in the middle of town
and one as one enters
from the east. That’s where
the tourists come from.
Neither north nor south
allows that caution
and the western entrance,
coming down off the mountain,
is at the four-way stop,
that's my way in.

Regular visitors saunter within the lines
and locals cross where ever we want.
Heck, it's our town.

The white paint is worn
but visible. One stop sign
lazily leans to one side. A drunk
must have hit it at one
time or another. In our
two block-long watering hole,
we have six restaurants, three
of which have full bars, the others
serve beer and wine.

I remember when there were
no crosswalks painted here
and only three dining halls.
I’m told one had a brothel upstairs,
but that was before my time.
We are moving forward
through the 20th century slowly.
Someday we may even cross over
into the 21st.
                   ~~Judi Van Gorder

Notes: ▶︎

35 Lines
Prompt: Crosswalk

FORUM

Promptly Poetry Challenge (2025-2026)  (E) 52 weeks + 52 prompts = 52 poems #2222203 by Lilli ☕