A Poem, Prodigal Son

This is an abbreviated narrative poem I put together a while ago.

It focuses on the return of a prodigal son, and I use that term loosely. I may change its title to “The Son Has Returned.” –Please feel free to share your thoughts on this.

Anyway, it is more of a modern take on the term “prodigal son.” It has very little association to the “Parable of the Prodigal Son” from the bible. I think the only associations that can be made are that the son leaves, spends all of their money, and does come back in the end to repent but doesn’t expect to find his mother and father bound and the thieves ransacking their home.
The poem’s story/setting is a desolate world and a desperate family trying to survive during the late 1800s. Unbeknownst to the mother and father, the son spent all of the money they had saved for him to start a life. The son is fleeing because he now owes money to heartless, cold-blooded people.   

You’ve got nothing for me here
It’s time I spread my wings
My loss is a heavy cross to bear
Mother cries as her reality stings.
Father needs help with the plow
Mother, I must leave this place
Dust on the horizon, and seeds to sow
This plight, as a family, we can face.
The son is gone, and thieves have come
Debts owed by the son for bets gone wrong
They’ve come to collect his sum
Mother and father bound, dragged along.
A hand grabs an ax from the backyard shed
As the thieves bask in their glory
Mother, I regret the day I fled
Shield your eyes because this could get gory.
The prodigal son has returned to pay his debt
Mother, father, I’ve come home, please do not fret.

Let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!
Travis

Travis J. McRoy 2021 All Rights Reserved