Road Poem

To write a poem about a road
Must you walk the length of it
Until you feel the burn
Of hot bitumen under your skin

Must you travel it in sun and rain and wind
Feel the sweat of it streaming from armpits
The thirst it inspires in you
Move awkwardly along it
Like a swimmer who has jumped in fully clothed
Longing to peel its tight wetness
From your weighted body
Breathing in its outward breath
Until the road unwinds in you

Must you dream of what’s at the end
Like a rainbow you can never reach
Or a flimsy stash of hope

Are your thoughts cars that speed along it
Seeking the right exit
Do they sometimes see red
So that ideas no longer flow
Are they forced to wait
For a green metaphor

Or, to write a poem about a road
Do you simply lay it down in your mind
Letting the bitumen seep into your brain
Close your eyes to the open road
And follow the white line of language.

(c) Deb Matthews-Zott