One Foot in Front of the Other

A dystopic/apocalyptic poem inspired partly by Cormac McCarthy's The Road and listening to Muse.

How long had he been walking?

He was no longer sure.

Days, weeks, years now ran together

Blending into one excruciating constant

Placing one foot in front of the other day after day

Was his whole world

His only thought

His survival wasn’t an issue anymore

Everything was instinct

His surroundings were piles of rubble

The only remains of his former life

Animals littered the landscape

Dominating what once dominated them

Possessing what the former primary species built

Cars lined the streets in perpetual traffic jams

But no one protested

Some lifeless forms inhabited the vehicles that weren’t long ago abandoned

The ones that still felt security in manmade things

Who felt they’d be safe, that they couldn’t be touched inside the tiny metal box

He’d learned to ignore these sights

To focus on the horizon before him

Lest he lose the strength and will to continue

For all the tragedy surrounding him

Was enough to break any man

Holding his tattered jacket closer to himself

He forced his eyes forward

Towards the bleary sun, now blotted by dust

And made himself focus

On putting one foot in front of the other.

Reviews

[Darl1ng N1kk1]

Book of Eli was an inspiration as well, but The Road was more up front in my mind at the time.

[Trevor]

oh. the road and muse...well it reminds me of eli lol

[Trevor]

book of eli inspired? reminds me of that