Directions

First you'll come to the end of the freeway.

Then it's not so much north on Woodland Avenue

as it is a feeling that the pines are taller and weigh more,

and the road, you'll notice,

is older with faded lines and unmown shoulders.

You'll see a cemetery on your right

and another later on your left.

Sobered, drive on.

                             Drive on for miles

if the fields are full of hawkweed and daisies.

Sometimes a spotted horse

will gallop along the fence. Sometimes you'll see

a hawk circling, sometimes a vulture.

You'll cross the river many times

over smaller and smaller bridges.

You'll know when you're close;

people always say they have a sudden sensation

that the horizon, which was always far ahead,

is now directly behind them.

At this point you may want to park

and proceed on foot, or even

on your knees.

--Connie Wanek