On the Road to Sacramento | Teen Ink

On the Road to Sacramento

June 9, 2016
By zirocket8q SILVER, Toronto, Other
zirocket8q SILVER, Toronto, Other
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

This monotony,
this cold sand on my legs freezes
like the dead of winter
as the warmth of death approaches
This monotony, this hot sun scalds
the simmering of summer sun

But t’was 500 miles to Sacramento
500 miles to bear
Hark! Lo and behold, the great saviour
a hunky freight train
trundles down, a cannonball
it does the Bronx cheer
knowing I must stay put in my misery
in the hot sand
lest I grease the track

But t’was 500 miles to Sacramento
500 miles to bear
3 more to Nevada border
at Wendover Station
No scrawling of a cat, nor a loaf of bread
but I still must stay,
lest the sun dries my soul;
days ‘till the next train
rolling on an iron thread
for 500 miles ahead;
500 miles to Sacramento
with my fellow hoboes.


The author's comments:

A poem inspired by the Great Depression, a window into the hardships many families had to endure.


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