Dear Road

I'm riding you towards my destination 
been aching to leave this place behind 
this city that's always under a black pall 
of trapped hopelessness 

now I ride your smooth gray ribbon 
hurtling towards hell or happiness 
the livid orange sky bisected 
with gray clouds of promise 
I can feel the shackles loosening 
from my wrists and ankles 

where I'll go doesn't seem to matter 
the silky purr of the motor 
is music to sustain me 
I'm just ensorcelled by the fact 
you never seem to stop winding 

it is like staring into a mirror 
seeing endless portraits of oneself 
being haunted by those dizzying echoes 
of invincibility 
and possibility 

I ride you all the way 
you are an empty slate 
etched in dots that lead 
towards beautiful unknowns 

you teach a class 
in choice and freedom 

and suddenly everything 
that came before 
just doesn't exist anymore 
as my son laughs wide 
in the rear-view mirror 
with one bruised eye 

and I laugh with him 
ignoring the pain 
of my purple smarting cheek 
because thankfully 
I've finally come to my senses 
and left the man forever