Intersections

It’s a beautiful afternoon,
white clouds sailing in the blue sky,
flowers peeking up,
trees budding,
Spring in Missouri.

It’s a beautiful day to drive,
despite the price of gas;
I sail my faithful car
down unfamiliar roads
running along hilltops
and diving into valleys to
cross wide shallow streams.

At intersections, I wonder
do I turn now,
or find a way to turn around
here where there’s no traffic.

I’ve passed many intersections
with tempting roads branching off
in exciting directions,
destinations that offer to please
both mind and body
with easy infatuation,
cheap love,
and poorly described facilities.
They’re not toll roads,
but they have a price
of broken pavement, axle busting rocks,
and deep mudholes
that will make me rue the day
I drove out of range of my cell phone.

My road lies before me
and I’ll follow it
no matter how nice the
intersections look,
because the main road is going
where I really want to go
and it’s better for me
that I get there, eventually.