MAYBE NEXT YEAR 

 

Potholes occur.

But work on the roads?

Maybe next year.

Hope does endure –

see the suggestions below –

for those who drive

with the discipline required

to avoid the distractions

driving pleasures and civilities provide.                             

 

“Think less about driving fun,”

would be a good Rule One.

Focus on the surface,

not the scenery

or driving leisurely.

If you must have fun

leave your car behind

and take a 5- or a 10-k run.

                                                                          

A mechanic replaced my car’s front spring,

realigned the front end,

charged me five hundred bucks,

then recommended

“Drive slow,” Rule Two.

Won’t please followers

of slow-driver me.

But the goal of pot hole

management is

not their happiness.

Traffic is a distraction to ignore.

Watch the road, not someone else’s car.

 

To see potholes coming

use Rule Three, namely:

“Don’t follow closely.”

We prairie guys value elbow room,

but here they treat space as a liability.        

Pass, change lanes and cut to fill in.               

Time to make space a friend again.

Defend it against the cutters-in.

The discipline is –

if it’s traffic, ignore.

The communiques, the body language

of drivers you can’t satisfy –

let them rage.                                           

Avoid that hole! 

 

Yes, “Avoid those roads full of holes:” Rule Four.

Follow the roads still drive-able –

out of the way, to be sure

but detours capable

of protecting your car

while getting you . . .

who knows where.

Unfortunately for me

that’s my whole neighborhood.

We have invested so much in schools

we can’t afford the roads

to reach them.

Could mean home schooling for the grandchildren

but I can’t be sure.

Unable to get out there since the January thaw.

Now it’s April and our hole bumper crop has really matured.

I’ll see the kids again,

but in the meantime I continue

to search and share word

of roads that are good.

If you live at the end of one of the others,

maybe next year.                                       

 

Dennis R. Keefe

May 1, 2009