driving to work today I became trapped
behind the slow moving
road crew painting fresh stripes
of white lines to box me in
from the edges

so fresh and pure the spray
covered the grey remnants of previous
boundaries
that had once been as crisp
as they are becoming
again
and I had the not overwhelming urge
to track through, to touch
the wet paint and trace my journey forward
but admiration for their clarity
of purpose kept me
in the lines

perhaps that is why tonight
I feel free to impose myself on the stark
page
and make my own lines
with the darkness