the road to halfway is open

the road to Halfway is open at last -
and she has just discovered that
the day that starts over all
the yesterdays does deserve 
a kiss goodbye. even love that
turned out to be something
other deserves a ribbon for "best
try, under the circumstances."

it is the lifetime rodeo and she has
her new number now, and with it 
a water bottle, the radio on - but
no old stations to sing with.
the grateful road down valley
lies behind, and there is only the new.

no one is the judge of that, whatever
they actually think. first, you have
to buy it, but that credit card
is cut to little pieces, and just in
time. the new adventure awaits.

rocks and holes and limbs
and dirt clod the byway - sticks and
stones, you know! still it is okay
to wave farewell to your own past,
mistakes and delights alike, like a
century's worth of rodeo queens,
or like all the unwatched stems 
of bunch grass over on the prairie.

the drive-by begins. there's gas and
a wrench for flats, a sandwich
and even a cell phone, should the
road crest high and there be
signal enough to carry the brand
new story out into life and its new home.

news from a small town 29, June 2011