Familiar Roads

As I drive the roads

Between the sandy shores of the Sound

And the rocky banks of the Hudson

Memories of what seem to be past lives

Flash by like sign posts along the way

These snippets of yesterdays

cloud my vision of the road ahead

And I wipe the tears away

And place my hands at 10 and 2

To keep to my lane

and silence the car horns

Of less nostalgic drivers

On these familiar roads

I have had the company

Of my beloved backseat driver

And my sometimes bickering boys

To and fro one ball game or another

I have had the good fortune

to be the chauffeur of my brides mother

Deliberately getting lost on the winding roads

Listening to her oohs and aahs while

Sightseeing the mansions and gardens of our betters

On our way to her weekly shopping

I have packed the car

and a roof top carrier to the brim

And driven one boy

or the other to university

Only to spend the trip back

Comforting my beloved

As we learned the meaning

of an empty nest

A subject I have grown to know too well

And now I near my destination

And put these memories aside for the moment

Knowing they will be good company

On my way home.