Wanderlust

Traveling the west by car

Wanderlust

I travel over land highways and byways
Of the West
In an effort to slake
My wonder list
Car wheels
Pressing in faint grooves
Physical memory
On the road
Surrounds by desert browns
Palms and stucco
Country and town
Bright lights and soothing quiet
Past all this I keep moving
A restless spirit
In a big landscape

I have seen the neons streets of Vegas
Gaudily glittering heartbreak
Possible in their casinos
I have seen gods paint brush
Woven over the land
Waving lush green grasses
Welcoming me as
I come into home
My Oregon
Filling in places
That the soul can soak into
Can rest in
I have seen concrete
And flowers grow up in those cracks
In that cold grey stone
Demonstrating the resilience
of nature
of beauty

The more I travel
The more I drive
Encased in this wondrous mechanical adventure machine
Reminding me we are indeed
Made of stardust and the universe
Inhabiting our dna
Indiscernible to the naked eye
But not too far if we look for
That connection
As the fathomless sky reaches out into eternity
above me
Reminding me also
Many of us have forgotten
We are part of the land
the sky the sea
It is engrained in us
To escape our man made enclosures
Take a risk
Feel the steering wheels
Under our hands
And travel the land
Or simply take a road trip