Member-only story
Prose Poetry
The Long Way Home
This prose poem spotlights a woman who once ran from her past and returns to find what she thought she’d lost — her story.
She decided to take the long way home that day. The path stretched out before her wasn’t new; she had walked it countless times. Yet, on that day, it felt different — laden with the weight of choices made and paths not taken.
The road wound through the town where she grew up. Further down, the school stood — a weathered building with unwashed bricks once red and now faded to brown.
Time surely changes things.
It was here on this school yard where she first fell in love, her heart skipping beats in the presence of a shy smile and stolen glances.
And then there was the house, the one that cradled her childhood dreams. She wondered whose family would peek out the window and witness the changing seasons.
Snowflakes dancing in winter, spring blossoms unfurling, badminton and backyard cookouts in summer, and autumn leaves pirouetting to the ground.
The porch swing creaked and swayed.
She still remembered the tearful goodbyes from the neighbors when she and her siblings were swept away. She tried to remember why they had to go. But some whys may never be answered.
