Attention: Road Work Ahead (Poem)

Attention: Road Work Ahead

This is no small pothole.
After fifteen years, our heavily traveled  road
needs repaving.


Start with the hole.
Fill it with crushed stone. Pack tight. Tamp
down. Thoroughly steam-roll.


Caution! Thick tar is soft,
boils and burns. Put it down on a ninety-degree day,
and we all sweat.


Not enough sand on the roller,
and the tar won't stick. Not enough sun
in winter, and the road gets covered in ice.


Double solid white lines
mean no passing, even when you aren't
rounding some blind curve with your brights on.


Ride, drop, crash.
Blame it on a tar snake.
Anything slick will take you down.


Not every crack is so easy
to repair. Sometimes, you patch and patch
and still reach a dead-end.

2015 © Maureen E. Doallas