Roadside Cross

June 24, 2024 6 0 Ian Dundas

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On a sharp bend

down a drunken HWY 78

between Columbus

and Absarokee

a white cross

stands on the shoulder

like a hitchhiker

forever passed by

in the daylight

the weathered cross

appears at peace

nestled in the long grass

and Queen Anne’s lace

until nightfall

when it leaps out

of the thick darkness

like a frantic soul

waving its arms

to flag down a ride

to get home:

“Stop!

don’t leave me here

I just wanted to get home”

you don’t stop

just a quick glance

a shudder in the heart

before your eyes

lock back onto

the thin white line

and yellow stripes

on a narrow highway

that separates you

from oblivion.

Author

Ian Dundas

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Ian A Dundas is a 4th generation Montanan who never inherited the family ranch. Instead, he knocked around and stopped writing for 17 years only to now surface in an attempt to regain some failed potential. If there is any. He has been forged by the land, the sudden changing weather, the cities, the small rural towns, and the bars. Ian is a 2003 graduate of Rocky Mountain College and currently works his dead end job in Billings, Montana where he lives in a small house with his dogs.