They Look but Never See

"Just look down the road and tell me if you can see either of them."

"I see nobody on the road," said Alice.

"I only wish I had such eyes," the King remarked in a fretful tone. "To be able to see Nobody! And at such a distance too!"

They Look But Never See

The road whines under my tires

crying,  “One more soul passes

and doesn’t pause to see the wonder

of where they are.”

Wildflowers grow in bouquets

to line its asphalt ribbon.

They beg for travelers

to stop and rest among their blooming.

People pass this very spot,

connected for a single moment.

They look but never see who inhabits

the vehicle to their left or to their right.

For a few seconds earth, sky, plant, animal and human

are in the exact same place in the universe.

It only happens once and then it bursts like a bubble

to never be recreated.

Tunnel vision and detachment place travelers in a metal cocoon

isolated in their destination of who, where and when.

Life blurred by the speed of a speedometer

chasing time and hurried miles.

I heard the road’s sorrow as it spoke from its grooves,

the mournful imploring stirring me to open my eyes.

I will no longer take for granted the photographs that move around me

nor those junctures  on a roadway that will never meet again.

©Susie Clevenger 2012

Kerry's Wednesday Challenge ~ On the Road

Real Toads