HIGHWAY

I had never heard of the "Tail of the Dragon" the first time I left Gatlinburg for Cherokee, North Carolina, thought I'd discovered heaven.

I rode a long highway through

that spring

among trees with rough bark,

the Redbuds a purple smoke

in the gray branches between

white clouds of Dogwood.

The motorcycle smooth

along the edge of cliffs,

I had to concentrate on the

pavement, snake S turns,

switchbacks, once a

complete three-sixty loop

then under where I had just been...

sometimes tunneled through

the solid rock mountain that

follows the white water river

on the right, then on the left,

splashing over boulders,

inviting my feet to bathe

in the cold wet…

maybe next time,

but the day had gone too long

and I was too tired…

Typical…

too busy, too hot in my leather,

too frazzled to stop...

walk down to the sand and stones

there in the rhododendron and laurel.

Sit.

Stretch;

remove my heavy boots

and navy socks,

rub their imprints from my skin

then lower my toes and soles

in the current where

there is a clean cascade,

lay back on the bank and sigh.

Back in the sharp angles of

mundane work, I wish I'd 

taken the time so I could 

close my eyes and cool 

my frayed brain

in the memory. 

Reviews

[Lorry]

Never fear Vol, your words just brought back a memory from my vaults, so here, you can have it, and it's free too!
I remember someone, I think it might even have been on this bvery site, telling me about a this or that they were doing, which meant a tunnel was being drilled through a mountain, which immediately gave me that "question mark eyebrows" look, as a "whaaaaaatt!" escaped my mouth and the explanation that that is indeed what Americans do made me wonder about the poor guy who would suggest doing the same here.
I was horrified at the thought you would just drill through a mountain, until I thought how much more cost efficient it would by than the way we do it, of detouring the road round the mountains. There is one place here that goes on a fifty odd mile detour and takes you to a spot less than a mile from where you started! And if that road is blocked, you effectively have to go on a countrywide tour to get where you were going. But at least the scenery is nice... And then I went and saw for myself and became a convert.
It was somewhere on the west coast, not too far from California and the more I saw, the better it got. I mean, who needs scenery when it cuts so much time off your journey! But I do draw the line at the national park place I heard about, where the entrance is a tunnel through a massive tree! I mean, that would only save you about three seconds of driving round it, but still, when I saw pictures of it I thought "That is goddam impressive!"
When I got back, I started thinking about how easier it would be just to do straight roads everywhere and to hell with the scenery, but then I remembered we would probably be a third world country without all that scenery and I came to the conclusion that hey, we're such a small country anyway (California alone has about six times more people than the while of Scotland), that there's nowhere we're in that much of a hurry to get to anyway. 😊
Plus, if I had been around when they decided to displace everyone by building roads around everything, I'd have been well pissed off and demanded the dynamite the mountain in the first place! 😊
Plus, it's not like you guys don't know how to do straight roads.
Although it's sadly declined in recent years, route 66 is still a place to get your kicks! Just as long as you don't mind seeing the ghost town it now is.

[Vol]

Lorry,
It is always a struggle to decide which way to go, scenic or direct. About forty years ago, or so, I was on my way to sell some insurance In Panama City, Fl. when I came to a stop sign... go straight, get there, and be done, or turn right and follow the beach. As I sat there I looked out the window and saw my arm resting, elbow out. No big deal until I was suddenly buried in the overwhelming knowledge that I would one day, DIE! My arm would be there, but cold, hard, and stiff. MY heart would lay silent in my chest and my thoughts evaporated like fog in the sunshine. I sat there for about twenty minutes before I could carry on. Of, course, I don't have to say which route I chose... the bikini-clad young nubiles, the surf and white sand, past The resort town of Seaside, (the setting for the movie "The Truman Show") and onward, only a little assuaged...
Vol

[Lorry]

There's a poem in that response too Vol. So okay, I'd have made the same decision and so what if I rear ended a few cars because something distracted me. That's what insurance is for! 😊