On the Road

I’ve seen pale sunlight seeping through
lace curtains into restaurants
where stoic sales-reps breakfast on
lukewarm eggs and tired croissants.

I’ve watched them settle up and go
down grey streets in company cars
and when the evening comes, I know
their cover bonhomie in bars.

I too have slept in drab motels
and watched the TV news until
I’ve closed the door upon a room
only the long day’s quiet will fill.

Like them, I’ve driven far away
from anywhere I could call home
and woken to a world in which
I’ll pack my bags and onwards roam –

and yes, I’ve come to understand
it would have been the same if I’d
never set out, although perhaps
such truths are easier to hide

from those who leave the road untried.

Tom Vaughan

If you have any thoughts on this poem,  Tom Vaughan would be pleased to hear them.