The Way Home

Why I still save paper receipts I do not know
other than they are pages from our book of living.
I bought fourteen gallons of mid-grade gas Monday
 
so we could drive to Denver to enjoy hamburgers
and then shop for ripped-up blue jeans. All of this
is stored in my memory banks but should something go
 
haywire, go horribly haywire so I missed my trains
of thoughts these black and white slips serve as fragile
cairns so presumably a man could find his way home.
 

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,327 other subscribers

12 Comments

  1. mike graves on September 30, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    “You and me chasing paper,getting nowhere,on our way home
    We’re on our way home,we’re goin home
    The Beatles 2 of us

    • thebeautifuldue on September 30, 2014 at 10:43 pm

      Mike, that sounds about right! Hope you are well.

  2. legomai1 on September 30, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    Love it… wish I could send you a picture of our computer desk at home…

  3. Kelly Hausknecht Chripczuk on September 30, 2014 at 1:27 pm

    I think that’s why I hold on to so many things – the things, the stories they represent. I forget to trust that they’re carried withing me as well and I need those physical reminders.

    • thebeautifuldue on September 30, 2014 at 10:44 pm

      Kelly, yeah, I hold on to ’em too…pretty tight.

  4. lindsayterry on September 30, 2014 at 4:18 pm

    “The Way Home” is great!! Right where we live.

    Lindsay Lindsay Terry 169 Lions Gate Drive St. Augustine, FL 32080 Phone 904-461-9113 http://www.lindsayandmarilynterry.com lindsay976@earthlink.net

  5. kimzzzzzs on September 30, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    As empty nesters we’ve been rearranging “home.” I’ve cleaned closets and boxed up keepsakes. I’ve organized the stacks of receipts and important papers in the “office” (junk room) and it has been an archeological dig of our families life. I’ve shed more than a few tears over tiny shoes and school pictures and craft projects from Sunday School. But the receipts……remembering the small daily events when our house held 5 instead of two has brought memories of the richness of our family life. It’s never in the big things. Its life together day by day. Thanks for sharing.

    • thebeautifuldue on September 30, 2014 at 10:46 pm

      Hi, Kim. Thanks for stopping by. Yes, it is the small, isn’t it?

  6. thejohnhoman on October 7, 2014 at 3:06 pm

    It’s so odd, I was just cleaning out my dresser and saw a whole bunch of receipts for food, gas, and all sorts of things. I thought to myself, “if someone else took all of these and wrote down where I was at what date and time, what I bought, and how I paid, what sort of image could they create of me as a person?”

    Great poem. Your work is consistently enjoyable to read and very accessible.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply