The Rural Mile Print

Rural Mile is an appropriation of the well-known idiom "walking the green mile" as well as the metaphor of the film "The Green Mile". Blending the essence of the two, the AI artwork presents a long walk of a rustic young boy toward something which is beyond control and cannot be averted. Though the ambiance is treacherous, merciless, and downright helpless, the gait of the young boy and his faceless face present a formidable mark of fortitude. He is not running away, or crouching ahead. Standing tall, in a composed pace of acceptance and endurance, the young boy is a statement on every child born into unfortunate circumstances. Is he coming home after subjecting himself to bonded labor or returning to work? There is a note of grief in his stride and the inescapable aura of fatigue. true, hardened by his human condition, the boy is despairing but his despair is not weepy or whiny. He has accepted and chosen to retaliate every day while walking the rural mile. The image is part of the graphic short story titled "The Tell-Tale Morals" which is inspired by Poe's Tell-Tale Heart.