Road Signs

In your eyes
the intermittent closure
of sad rain—

roads will close
and detours offer
themselves freshly

—but you’ll keep crying
for the cloud
that caused such
electricity

even though his lightning
was a venomous snake-tongue spit
and his thunder, bullying rams
locked inside white slapping clouds

but he made you feel
soft and pink
not blue or grey as
sleeping asphalt.

So you’ll continue
on this route
until the pavement dries
and the potholes are filled in.

—DAYLE FURLONG

(Originally published Christmas, 2002.)

Author Bio

Dayle Furlong lives in Dufferin Grove. She studied English literature and fine arts at York University. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Kiss Machine, the Puritan, Word, and the Voice. She works as a literary publicist and has worked as a screenwriter’s assistant for the Showcase television series Slings & Arrows. Her debut collection of poetry, Open Slowly, will be published by Tightrope in spring, 2008. (Last updated Christmas, 2007.)