Yeah, I added the periods trying to format the post to break up the stanzas, originally there were commas at the end of each odd line.  Thank you so much for your kind words.  I'll fix it when I get back to my computer.

On second thought, the words are perfect, but the punctuation could use work.

Quite a few of those periods seem unnecessary. 

This is simple, elegant, and well written. A beautiful message, and has a final appeal to emotion to send it all home.

I love it. I like that it's "streamlined" and efficient, at least in that it seems to utilize the fewest possible words to convey the message...

I can't offer you any criticism, in that I don't think this could actually be better without changing its entirety, which would render it something else...

Very, very well done. 

Well that earns it!! It's hard to make our own experiences into reader experiences. Perhaps if you related the child more to those images in the journey? Maybe he just needs to be more of a throughline.

Thank you so much!  I understand what you mean by the last line feeling unearned. I wanted there to be more buildup, but I couldn't find the right words.  It had to be in the poem, though, because it actually happened to me.

I like that the rhyming scheme makes it feel like a montage, time passing, the repetition of the road, passing by these images. Ending doesn't work for me, it feels unearned and cloying. 

Thank you so much!  I'm glad it put you in mind to consider a new perspective.  Part of my intent was to get across that, even though we're in the way a lot of the time, there are actual human beings in big rigs.  As far as the fourth stanza, it may have felt like a punchline because there were supposed to be more stanzas between it and the last.  They were god awful, though, so I scrapped them.  It's also why the last stanza feels forced.  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I can't really explain why, but I find something funny about the 4th stanza. The last line of it feels like a mild punchline. That might not be a valid thought though, it could just be from how I read it.

I do like the driving narrative, and I like the overall message of it - it made me consider a perspective I never really gave time to. I do agree with other comment about the last stanza, it feels a bit too sentimental. Overall though, pretty good.

I thought the ending could have been better, but upon learning that it came from personal experience I now think that it's fitting. The most important thing after all is the creator's own preference and opinion. I really liked the poem and it makes you remember that everyone is a real person and not just some background character in our lives. Great poem.

Thank you!  I own my own truck now, so I go home for a week every month.  It's a much better situation now.

It is a really nice and touching poem, the rhyme scheme is pretty neat too, and if it's a true story I really hope you get to spend more time with your family. The thing I love about this poem is that I can visualize the road and the scenery in my mind as I read it, keep on the good work

I've seen both the oceans,    

And driven on by.    

I've crossed all the mountains,    

And looked on from high.    

-

Beautiful vistas,    

Are what I call home.    

But I never do visit,    

'Cause ever I roam.

-

Drivers all hate me,    

As I putter along.    

Their actions are scathing,    

As if I'm in the wrong.

-

But none of them see me,    

Or understand how it feels.    

Being cut off from my family,    

Living life upon wheels.

-

Sure there is money,    

And other small perks.    

But isn't life funny,    

In just how it works.

-

'Cause all that I've done,    

Nothing's hurt me so badly.    

As when my five year old son,    

Asked, "Are you my daddy?"

[https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/8rarwd/the\_endgiving\_up/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/8rarwd/the_endgiving_up/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/8ratew/what\_be\_life/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/8ratew/what_be_life/)

Trucker's Lament