Detour - Ruth Feldman

 I took a long time getting here,

much of it wasted on wrong turns,

back roads riddled by ruts.

I had adventures

I never would have known

if I proceeded as the crow flies.

Super highways are so sure 

of where they are going:

they arrive too soon.

A straight line isn't always 

the shortest distance 

between two people.

Sometimes I act as though

I'm heading somewhere else

while, imperceptibly,

I narrow the gate between you and me.

I'm not sure I'll ever

know the right way, but I don't mind

getting lost now and then.

Maps don't know everything.