Exit

A Poem by Laurence David Sterling III

The exit finally came and I took it.
I had been on that highway far too long,
traveling in a direction I found I did not want to go,
with people going places I could never be happy living.
It took so little time to realize that I had taken the wrong road.
It took far too long to get to a place I could turn around
and go in the direction I had intended.
Too many detours, too many confusing signs,
too many calls to yield, when I wanted to be on my way,
and far too much slowing for construction ahead.
It was a blessed relief to see the sign,
EXIT AHEAD, BEAR TO THE RIGHT
and then the exit itself.
Deceleration
Stop sign here and there
Look both ways
Course correction
New direction
Back on my way again!
As I took one final look in my rearview mirror,
for a moment I wondered, what would have happened
if I had taken that road to where it lead?
A curious thought.
Curious, perhaps, 
but not enough to keep me from where I must go.

Legend © 1995-96 by Ignacio Calvo