{"id":15760,"date":"2017-09-01T17:01:38","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T21:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/?p=15760"},"modified":"2017-09-01T17:01:38","modified_gmt":"2017-09-01T21:01:38","slug":"a-truckers-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/2017\/09\/poetry-in-motion\/a-truckers-child\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trucker\u2019s Child"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeptPoemPic1\"<\/a>September is here and summer is winding down. School will be starting soon, and all the kiddos will be back in class. I don\u2019t have kids of my own, but I am the child of trucking parents, so I know the unique lifestyle a trucker\u2019s child experiences. We always said, it\u2019s not about the quantity of time we get to be together, but it\u2019s the quality. Maybe mom or dad couldn\u2019t make it to school functions or sports games, but we never felt neglected or unloved. Personally, I loved bragging about my trucking parents and getting to travel the country while the other kids never left their home town. But, it can be challenging, as well. Oftentimes, birthdays and holidays were often skipped or celebrated on another date to accommodate the schedule of the truck. This poem is for those of you who have kids at home, who are heading back to school, while you\u2019re heading out to who-knows-where in a truck. They\u2019ll be describing their summer road trips in the shotgun seat, while you\u2019re staring at their pictures on the dash, wishing you could be there with them. Maybe you\u2019ll share this one with your kids \u2013 maybe they will even want to bring a copy to school and share it with their friends. After all, if they\u2019re anything like me, they are proud to be a long-haul trucker\u2019s kid.<\/p>\n

A TRUCKER\u2019S CHILD<\/strong>
\n By Trevor Hardwick<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SeptPoemPic2\"<\/a><\/strong>I have rolled a thousand highways,
\nI will roll a thousand more.
\nI have rolled so many countless miles,
\nFrom the mountains to the shore.<\/p>\n

I have seen a lot of sunsets,
\nI have seen the starry skies.
\nI have seen the way the sun creeps in,
\nAnd burns me in the eyes.<\/p>\n

But nothing seems to hold me,
\nOr makes me feel alive.
\nLike seeing you on those front steps,
\nWhen I pull into the drive.<\/p>\n

\"SeptPoemPic3\"<\/a>When I aim for that horizon,
\nAnd I chase the painted lines.
\nI leave you here for days or weeks,
\nAnd I wish we had more time.<\/p>\n

But I think about you always,
\nAnd I know it seems unfair.
\nWhile other families spend more time,
\nI\u2019m always gone somewhere.<\/p>\n

I keep your pictures on my dash,
\nAnd some above the door.
\nAnd every time that I get home,
\nYou\u2019ve grown a little more.<\/p>\n

School is back in session soon,
\nYou\u2019ll reunite with friends.
\nI\u2019d love to take you on the road,
\nBefore the summer ends.<\/p>\n

\"SeptPoemPic4\"<\/a>So when the teacher asks you,
\nHow was your summer spent?
\nYou can tell them all about,
\nThe places that we went.<\/p>\n

I know it isn\u2019t easy,
\nSince I\u2019m gone most of the time.
\nBut if it were up to me,
\nWe\u2019d find some trees to climb.<\/p>\n

But when I come back home,
\nAnd I see your face beguiled.
\nI hope it means you\u2019re proud to be,
\nA long-haul trucker\u2019s child.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September is here and summer is winding down. School will be starting soon, and all the kiddos will be back in class. I don\u2019t have kids of my own, but I am the child of trucking parents, so I know the unique lifestyle a trucker\u2019s child experiences. We always said, it\u2019s not about the quantity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15760","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-poetry-in-motion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15765,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15760\/revisions\/15765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tenfourmagazine.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}