Why You're Afraid of the Road
There is room for one car, but what if the wheels
miss and the car hangs over the edge
with two tires spinning? You'd be moving frantically
against the door, hoping to keep the balance
or get out. Never would the yellow dust of the road seem
so desirable; the blue sky so thin and threatening;
and you a turned-over turtle, a blind bird!
Or what if you just drove off the edge
because you were tired of all
curves and wanted to lie on air?
Whether or not spirits come back,
empty and blue and unable to hold anything,
you could say you'd gone into their place
in your body. Of course
you love life--
it holds you as hard as death does.
Everything holds you but the air
and this is why you're afraid of the road.