Freeway Jam

We are ever dying to one world and being born into another. - Thoreau

The funeral procession lethargically snaked along.

Crawling at a saintly, snail's pace.

Culminating a human race.

'Twas simply a shame that his demise was so graphic.

A grim reminder that ...

... even in death there is traffic ...

Author's Note

"When the leaves fall, the whole earth is a cemetery pleasant to walk in. I love to wander and muse over them in their graves. Here are no lying nor vain epitaphs." - Thoreau

Reviews

[R.E. Ray]

I always enjoy reading your work, Pete. Having read so much from Thoreau and Emerson, I understand poems like this at a different level. I value the different perspectives. I think about the times I've been part of the funeral procession, the times I've pulled off as one passed, the times I've watched from my front porch, the times I've stood in uniform blocking traffic as the black hearse headed to the cemetery, and times like this, when I've wondered why we don't put the dead guy in the front seat, so he can see all the people and scenery before we bury him. :)

"Even in Hell there is traffic" is another line that snaked through my head, Pete. Too many years working in Washington, DC, I suppose. Good write, Pete.

[Pete]

lol. you're too much if not thorough. wasn't there a guy buried in a cadillace coffin? i used to live near concord, ma where emerson, thoreau and the transcendentalist romped and wrote. i've been to walden pond many times and walked and swam where Henry did, seeing what he saw. i've visited his grave. have also been in emerson's well-preserved manse - beautiful house high up on a hill overlooking the concord river. as for the poem, traffic is becoming a menacing problem. here in boston they're trying to encourage more work-from-home, staggered hours and expanding public tansportation to combat it. sounds like you've had some interesting experiences. thank you for venturing out on this one r.e. ... :)

[R.E. Ray]

I envy your experiences, Pete. I spent a summer at Harvard when I was a senior executive, and I spent most weekends in Concord and the nearby area. I also visited the manse, but only from the outside.

Though I doubt they'd share my taste in booze, I'd love to sit in a tavern with those transcendentalists, sip whiskey and quiz Thoreau about what he really did at Walden Pond. I still wonder if he shacked up with some chick nearby.

[Pete]

if i'm not mistaken, there was a lady that he fancied but things never materialized. i'm sure he swam naked in the pond (doubt he had a bathing suit at that time). 'walden (life in the woods)' is an amazing work as are all of his writes with many timeless, memorable life quotes. one time he started a fire near the riverbank to cook and it got out of control and spread burning a large tract of land that i think belonged to a farmer. the farmer and others weren't too happy with him. i'm sure he did more than just look under rocks and left it out of his writes. emerson is amazing too - he coached henry and encouraged him in his writing. ralph actually owned a piece of land at walden and told henry to stay there and write.