Winter Driving - Nov 30 2022

 

Winter Driving

Nov 30 2022

Headed north

on a country road

in the middle of the night.

A strong gust of wind

and the road disappeared

in a vortex of white,

swirling snow

scattering the light

into tiny brilliant sparkles.

Temporarily blinded

on an icy road

the sense of exultation I felt

must seem incomprehensible.

Was it because the suddenness

brought an edge of fear,

the exhilaration

of adrenaline?

Or was it how the power of weather

and indifference of nature

left me feeling small, and powerless?

The same feeling

of wonder and awe

her demonstrations of grandeur

and magnificent sites inspire;

the Grand Canyon,

a desert sky at night.

But most seductive

was the feeling of being cocooned

and cut-off from the world,

as if everything ended

beyond my nimbus of light.

Fortunately, I had the road to myself

and the pavement soon reappeared.

Fresh white snow

scudding across the blackness,

a wavering line

of low wind-swept mounds

softening the margins.

It only whited-out

for a few seconds or so

but felt as if time had stopped.

As if I had no sense of forward motion.

As if I could drive forever

and be perfectly content

going nowhere at all.