49/100 days of summer Poetic Asides prompt -- Discovery

A Walk Down a Dirt Road

I set my timer twenty minutes

and walk, then walk back.

I walked to the end of second street.

I thought it was a dead end,

but discovered it continued as a dirt road.

I had eight minutes left, so I kept walking,
the uneven road reminding me

of hiking country paths as a child.
 

But here in the west--sage brush
bright blue sky with Mesa Verde to the south

(Table Green—the name was fitting
but for a lot of brown ridges
looking like a long row of teepees) and
to the north two blocks a busy highway.

It didn’t take long down that isolated road

before I realized I was walking in the home
of the homeless. Remains of campfires,
empty beer bottles, a discarded shoe box.

All I had with me was a timer. I continued to walk
and saw some of the residents returning.

I told myself they were harmless.

When the timer went off,

I turned around and headed back.

Knowing the men were behind me,

I prayed for protection and noted escape routes,
sad that this could have been a lovely walk

if it wasn’t for my fear.