road trip
here is a well-traveled
metaphor: life is a road
a highway headed west
wait — not the interstate
think two lane blacktop
that hits all the lights
in every small town
intentional inconvenience
that fills the booths in
soul food cafés filling
stations of the heart
where whoever comes
out to the car or
up to the table is
wearing a name tag
and a big smile maybe
sadness in their eyes
either one an invitation
we are people whose lives
are drowning in details
without express lanes
waiting to see what lies
just beyond the bend
of the next sorrow
traveling side by side
on our way home full
of grief and gratitude
Peace,
Milton