After the Snowmelt

The empty road comes back
To you, a fossil scarf
Unfurling through the woods,

A local deity,
A friendly, sacred grove
Kind of god, familiar,

Inscribed with hours and hours
Of just the two of you
Together in starlight

And later in sunlight,
Delighted in being
Alone, nature and not,

This road, pure invention,
Laid down by loud machines
And crossed by loud machines,

But silent when empty,
A firm friend, the wide path
That you’ve loved hobbling down.