As we navigate the rivers of auto traffic
propelling our petrol-fed wheels forward
on these paved streams,
the fickle tide demanding alertness:
a ribbon of red lights ahead
silently signals “slow down!”
Lane changers swerve left and right
seeking some speeding space.
Suddenly gaps appear:
any opportunistic minutes for me?
Not for long, alas.
Again slow motion. Stop action.
Spurting ahead -- a game of sorts --
swarms of drivers fighting the odds.
Anxious tedium, resigned boredom.
If only we’d started earlier!
We are not alone.
Hardly. The weaving Interstate parade
sucks us ahead, nudges us from behind.
Now our lane is winning;
we pass dozens of cool cars,
hunkered-down drivers restless,
hoping it’s their turn to move ahead.
A car we passed now skips past us.
Music soothes and invites my sing-along.
Amazing vehicles! Sleek black and silver, mostly,
recent expensive models with considerable interest
in millions of those collective dollars.
Sliding by now a low-slung yellow sport speedster
as if yelling “Look at me!”
When passing him, I smile.
Newness mirrored from wind-friendly curves.
Clots clog, then slowly dissolve.
Tributaries converge and merge
inch-by-inch, minute-after-slow-minute.
Halt! Flashing patrol car lights way ahead --
attending to a breakdown?
Again these too-familiar miles
become an impatient parking lot.
While trapped, we consider the miracle:
nerve-like tangled webs of travel veins
branching out over our planet’s skin and bones,
carrying precious human corpuscles
to and from hearts and hearths.
If my dad were alive,
how would he, a pioneer driver a century ago,
apprehend this modernity?
Again we sail along in AC comfort
accepting the reality, taking for granted
this incredible mobility monster,
giving no thought to what God hath wrought
(using inventive skills of Ford, Daimler and others
possibly inspired by Trevilthick’s steamers.)
My eighth-decade perspective
prompts profound gratitude –
awe, wonder, amazement!
Our gasoline buggies have come a long way!
Can we really complain about petrol prices?
Today’s interstate networks and the web of earlier trails,
roads, bridges, tunnels, and turnpikes
link multitudes of mobile-minded commuters
“on the go” for work or play, night and day.
We, too, join this passing parade with headlights, wipers,
accelerators, gauges, brakes, horns, stereo devices,
maybe even waiting for glitzy global-positioning gadgets.
Damn the speed limits – full speed ahead!
Drive safely.
Go with the flow.
