There is a road with many turns.

It leads from one place to the next,

Just like all the other roads I have driven on.

The skies are filled with grey clouds today,

Even though it’s not supposed to rain.

 Every once in a while, I see dark lines on the asphalt,

Where it had cracked and been repaired before.

Even though I know the road,

Even though I know my destination,

I don’t dare put down my map,

Because every time I drive down that road, I have this feeling.

This sense that even though I’m only an hour from home,

And my destination is only an hour away,

I could drive forever, through the middle of nowhere.

I still know I’m moving forward,

Because of the things I see disappearing behind me,

Through a window that seems somehow too clean here.

And of course, the sign.

The sign next to the road, beside one of the bends.

Anyone who’s driven past it as much as I have could recognize it.

It’s supposed to be an ad for some shop.

It’s a massive billboard, and the words are on massive posters,

That’s just glued on the front and back alike.

I know that because the poster is starting to peel off.

The metal rod holding it up has begun to rust.

“Stop bye Jeffrey’s burgers and ice cream,” the faded letters say.

It isn’t much, but I always like seeing it.

It marks the halfway point,

Its oldness reminds me of all those other people who have driven down the road before.

It was the only place where I’m willing to look up from my map,

And today I am all alone.

Every time I saw the sign, I thought the same thing,

“They used the wrong by.”

Not that that was a surprise, really.