Sunday, December 16, 2007

Highway Sign

A simple world, a world of black and white
and yellow lines. Obey the limits, they
are for your safety. Don't pass on the right.
Keep off shoulder; yield the right of way--
a million signs, you see them every day
and wonder if the highways would reveal
some hidden truth, if you refused to play
by roadsign rules. A mess of tortured steel,
a bloody corpse, a spinning smoking wheel.
This is the lesson we're supposed to learn,
obey the signs and treat the road as real.
But glimpse another truth around each turn
as parallels converge and curves align:
reality is not a highway sign.

12 comments:

Rethabile said...

You're a very good sonneteer...

Anonymous said...

Highway sign on a dirt road...what a concept.

sister AE said...

This poem gets at a truth that I couldn't figure out how to voice. Well done!

paisley said...

definitely a definitive word on traveling the road of life.....


i am wondering if yourself or mike ever visit the blogs of the participants ,, as i never see comments from either of you on any of the other blogs....... i would think that community participation would be encouraged....

Tiel Aisha Ansari said...

paisley: I do visit all the TOP contributions (usually on Friday so I can catch the late arrivals). I rarely comment on anyone's blogs.

Tumblewords: said...

A mess of tortured steel - begins a sentence that loud with image. Nice work!

Anonymous said...

Well thought out and well constructed. Good job.

Sherri B. said...

A mess of tortured steel,
a bloody corpse, a spinning smoking wheel.


The words are so gruesome, but they roll of the tongue like music! I loved reading your blog post.

Anonymous said...

This is not easily done, a sonnet that moves so smoothly one does not, at first, notice...


~ sb @ Watermark

Linda Jacobs said...

Smooth! The rhyme is barely discernible. Actually, I didn't even notice it on the first reading.

Andy Sewina said...

Yeah, I enjoyed reading this - maybe you could do a sonnet prompt one week, but leave some links on the 'rules' for the likes of me. Just a thought!

Gemma Wiseman said...

Great reflective thoughts! They certainly awaken the subconscious!