Distance Like An Empty Highway
I’ve been tasting distance in the way a road does–
winding distance, empty distance, distance
that is not distance but is instead
bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The space between us
is an artifical gully
in this electronic
age, but I can’t
give up the
generous
empty,
the gulfing.
It is a luxury I
exhaust into the air
like so much smoke. I vanish
into myself more and more each day.
Distance like an empty highway. Distance
like a trail I follow, its lack and beckoning path.
13 thoughts on "Distance Like An Empty Highway"
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Wow ! I can hear the old push button radio. This !
I had an image of a road
out west. This hit
“not distance but is instead
bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The space between us
is an artifical gully” then that.
And felt the traffic jam of all the lonely drives though the decades playing out on the one road at the one time.
Beautiful imagery.
Beautiful poem.
Love how you’ve shaped this.
Time and Space are the Same:
nothing…everything.
“Distance
like a trail I follow, its lack and beckoning path.”
…that is just right!
Could it be that the artificial distance of our cyber lives make us pine for physical distance? And if so, are traffic jams the new crack cocaine feeding our addictions? Maybe this isn’t what you intended, but it’s where your poem took me, and that ain’t bad. Great job, Shaun.
Yesss. And the emptiness of that circle far right.
“I can’t
give up the
generous
empty,
the gulfing.
It is a luxury”
oof, this poem is haunting in its truth because it’s so well crafted.
love the way the word “distance” is repeated compulsively, almost like a mantra, love the poem
I adore when the shape of a poem adds weight to each line, and that’s demonstrated well in this poem. The diction is also great especially “artificial gully” and “generous/ empty,/ the gulfing.”
love how you use exhaust here:
It is a luxury I
exhaust into the air
like so much smoke.
love the shape of the poem and the title!
There’s something about the shape of the poem that makes me think of a shark coming after us.
The generous empty has gotten me to thinking . . .
Very nice work, Shaun.
So much to love, to think about in this poem. That opening line– the idea of “tasting distance” is odd, but so perfect. The shortest lines at the center of the poem really hit me:
“but I can’t
give up the
generous
empty,
the gulfing.”
And that last line! Powerful, haunting work.
I especially love the way “distance” lengthens lines in the beginning and end. Perfect suiting of word to action.