SOMETHING THERE IS THAT
DOESN'T LOVE A LINE


The yellow line on Water Row
fills my morning ride with woe.

Where once the woods were dense and green
there now appears a highway scene,

complete with stripes like beams of light
that startle and perturb my sight.

Here once a country road ran through,
a guest of the wilderness it knew,

but something craved domination,
with trees reduced to decoration,

and suddenly – poof! – an abomination,
just one more strip for Asphalt Nation.

Where once a genial road ran through,
there's now a line we have to rue,

winding past the leafy spires,
conjuring only oil and tires.

When roads are built, the woods should know
that, most probably, they'll have to go.

It's still far better than Concord Road,
but I miss the dreams Water Row once sowed.

On thinking about the new blacktop with
freshly-painted lines on a section
of my favorite Sudbury road.

September 2003




All written material © Bill Schechter, 2016
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