Miles and miles of road
sometimes asphalt
sometimes concrete
always hot
blazing hot
like the crusty rocks of the Nebraska badlands
in the summer

All water never enough to quench the thirst
to move
to see
to experience

Blocks of color erupt from the median
Yellow more like a sunset than the sun itself or a lemon
darkest browns
brilliant flashes of white
black-eyed susan and queen anne's lace

Recalls a Dylan song that plays in memory
"Purple clover queen anne's lace
crimson hair across your face
you can make me cry if you don't know..."

I smile, wondering if I ever made someone feel that way
waves of color wash by and soon
I am in the place I called home
when I was a child
shoved into the world
of grown-ups
innocent at 17
sent away to school
far from the maddening crowds of the city
deep into the heart of Dixie

Where magnolias bloomed brilliant flashes of magenta
while the dogwoods blossomed creamy-white 
and lilac bushes and wysteria
lit the night and senses with an otherwordly essence
I walked
with my roommate on those dark Georgia roads
huge mansions silent
an occasional light visible from the street so far below

All gone now
it all appears so small
my dorm...gone
"tangled up in blue..."
More Dylan

More roads
more heat
now purple and white blocks of color
different road
cornflowers and queen anne's lace
tear streaks down cheek now brown
from sun
and adventure
and the realization
you can never go back

except in memory
music
dreams
and I want to kiss you
because you are real
not a ghost
from the past
but the beauty
of my present
a gift
to treasure
and keep close
so memories
don't hurt
quite
so
much.