the other road

it's a long drive.
this road. black and hot.
crowded and hurried.
everyone needing
to be somewhere
fast, maybe home.
you pick the right lane.
the slow lane.
you've done
the others, you lived
in those lanes
for most of your life.
the shoulder
of the road
looks nice now,
the gravel and the dust.
so does that dirt
path along
the corn field.
the trail leading
to the river
in the soft grass.
you can take your shoes
off there
and take all day.
even stop and lie
down between the rows
of corn and stare
upwards at the glorious
blue of a cloudless
sky.