Dusky desert sky
Offers not
A single star
So look ahead
To where the road
Is vanishing
A comet glows
Slow to grow
But soon enough
Comes streaking by
Whereupon
The night sky falls
So stars may
Come alive
Dusky desert sky
Offers not
A single star
So look ahead
To where the road
Is vanishing
A comet glows
Slow to grow
But soon enough
Comes streaking by
Whereupon
The night sky falls
So stars may
Come alive
Sometimes
I am reminded
The best path
Is not always direct
The best place
Is not always familiar
The best means
Is not always expedient
Sometimes
A leisurely pace
Into the unknown
Offers the surest road
To a cherished end
As yet unidentified
Finite tracks traverse
Infinite space and time
Every passage a new road
Every road a new story
Played out in the rhythms
Of dashed lines and power poles
Where even the vanishing point
Vanishes
Into futures unexplored
Blacktop glimmering
Invitation to explore
Hostile enchantress
Long lonely highway
Stippled asphalt
Humming rubber
Eating up the miles
Alone in thought
Serene solitude
Long lovely highway
No greater metaphor
To my reason for being
Than a remote highway
Through open country
I’ve not yet explored
With the tools in hand
To tell the tales
Of my discoveries
More and more
Discovery comes
As reflections of my self
In the landscape of existence
Oft times the path ahead
Seems crystal clear and straight
Still I proceed with caution
Keep my eye upon the road
For sudden curves unforeseen
For living things which cross the lane
For side roads leading from the route
Some could throw me from my course
And I could lose my way
Some may form a barrier
Force me to a halt
Some may lead me far astray
Distract me from my goals
Some may offer opportunity
A better route to go
And which of these
I may not know
Until I drive
Some many miles beyond
Not the destination
Every place I may want to go
Is a waypoint
On the way to another place
Neither the journey
What is to be gained
From moving
For the sake of movement
But once the wheels
Begin to roll
Changes begin
The promise manifests
What I see; How I think; Who I am
Of space and time
Of politics and social norms
Of family and friends
The things that stay
But never stay the same
The ephemeral things
Lost and soon forgotten
Nothing ever stays
But change
Which is often the point
Of these things we do to landscapes
Change the landscape
Change each other
Change ourselves
An oppressive weight
Waiting to fall
My mood becomes dark as the sky
Until I realize the low grey cover
Provides an atmospheric parasol
A gift to soften harsh desert sun
Diminish the heat of afternoon
An invitation to step out of the car
I breathe deeply in sage-scented air
While my mood becomes effervescent
As sage drifting in the desert breeze