I Wonder Why the Road Means So Much

I wonder why the road means so much.

Today it changed me without my knowing,

As it has with so many others.

On my drive to work, I passed a man,

Just a normal man, but he was walking in the road,

So he was not normal.

He was shooing a fly, but he was on the road,

So he was strung out.

I wonder why the road means so much.

 

I wonder why the road means so much.

It has its own security force, patrolling its borders

And standing unquestionably ready to defend the pavemented paths.

One mph or more than their comfort and they take things away.

I wonder why the road means so much.

 

I wonder why the road means so much.

Where I’m from, a girl once hit a hole in the road and crashed.

There is a mural of her now, but the road is still broken.

I guess they didn’t want to risk breaking it more.

They grit their teeth but allow the mural to keep the road.

I wonder why the road means so much.

 

I wonder why the road means so much.

There are so many songs and books about it.

People fantasize about lives on the road.

So much that the thought of the road takes them from where they are now.

It is memorialized in our art.

I wonder why the road means so much.

 

As I reflect upon these things. I can’t imagine what is so precious.

What makes us behave this way?

Sometimes I wish the road didn’t mean so much.