Truth of Dust Roads Taken
by Michael Doyle

Some of the deepest truths are told in fiction
Especially those of times of historical friction
Pushed into competition over narrowed resources
Inherent conflicts rise as nature takes its courses

Some conflicts come with visible tags of shame
Where pointed fingers hold ghosts to their blame
It is there in this vivid, haunting darkness
That the human race feels its way out of harshness

An author chooses the moment to grow a tale told
Looking forward or looking back, to praise or scold
This is exceptionally true for the Dust Bowl of the Depression
And the immensity of its lasting impression

It was a time when we learned just what people will do
In hard times, sin disappears, and there is little virtue
Strength grows in learning how it is to barely survive
And tenacity is found in struggling to stay alive

It was a time of failure leading to desperation and wrath
And a straightforward time with an easier sort of math
Adding up to learning to live without certainty in life
Wishing for some semblance of peace in the middle of strife

All this type of desperation only leads to deeper thoughts
Like the sort of truths we should have always sought
The rot of lives ruined is a putrid drip into the earth
Destroyed by the ignorance and greed of man brings the dearth

That deprives humanity of the tears that cannot be realized
As the sorrow burned deep beyond our souls death symbolized
This is the heavy vintage that cannot age well through the ages
Humanity's final death prophesized on our own tainted pages

(c) January 27. 2024   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved