White Lines

White Lines

Even though

I've not gone

in quite awhile,

I used to love to take

drives out across

the country.

When I was young,

I'd go all alone

or with a friend

late at night

for drives

with the excuse

of getting a coke

or a vanilla shake

from obscure little

towns ninety

or a hundred miles

away from home.

Driving on summer nights

with the window down

the sound of warm evening air

rushing into the car

wipes clean your mind

and clears your inward eye.

The white lines flow

rapidly towards you

in the headlight beams

and quickly disappear

beneath your car

taking the clutter and jabber

of day-to-day thoughts

with them.

The vastness of the land

and the star filled skies

reach far, far into your soul

and draw out ideas and emotions

as deep and broad

as the skies your journey

takes you under.

Long ago, driving there

far across the Wyoming

sagebrush prairies

roving quickly through corners

thinking speed,

my life took a wide turn

and became philosophy.

Dewey Dirks