Author Suzanne Burke provides another Fiction in A Flash Challenge for anyone feeling the creative urge. Her photograph this week is the historic ROUTE 66 road sign. I've decided to respond with a historical glimpse back to its origins.
John Steinbeck famously called Route 66 "the mother road, the road of flight" because thousands upon thousands fled the Dust Bowl for the hope of something better. His Grapes of Wrath captured the dire poverty that so many experienced and helped later generations understand why there was an epic journey West.
Though the road is now decommissioned, it basically follows Interstate 40 from Santa Monica to Oklahoma City where it changes to Interstate 44 through Missouri and Interstate 55 to Chicago. For those of us who have traveled this road, there's a reverence for its history. My tanka poem (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) tries to capture that sentiment.
Though the road is now decommissioned, it basically follows Interstate 40 from Santa Monica to Oklahoma City where it changes to Interstate 44 through Missouri and Interstate 55 to Chicago. For those of us who have traveled this road, there's a reverence for its history. My tanka poem (5-7-5-7-7 syllables) tries to capture that sentiment.
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