road maps

While driving yesterday, I pulled over and wrote this..

I like the feeling of the gas pedal beneath my sandaled foot
I like the heat of the sun on my left thigh and forearm
I press my face into my warm arm to smell my own sweat
and taste that salt of being on the road.
I like how, with every second and every turn of the wheels
I'm somewhere different than I was the moment before
Going somewhere.. or just going
Leaving instead of being left behind.
I roar past shiny metal streaks of other trucks and cars
Lights flash, heart leaps, but it's not me this time.
I like how the wind blows through the open windows
and the midsummer flowers growing on the roadside
I like to buy fruit from farm stands or look at old things displayed on tables
I find six state maps from the 1950s at a garage sale
with illustrations of happy travelers excited to be on the open roads of America
stopping at bright gas stations for fill-ups and oil changes.
I like to be gone, or to arrive and be there.
Today I said goodbye to someone getting on a train.
I know someone else waits for me at the end of this drive
Part of me is always happy to see someone
and part of me wants to keep moving along