[Hilary Biehl]

The Detour

I.

“This way is scenic,”
he says. There’s certainly
no need to panic,

though she complains,
“You always get us lost.”
He points out pines,

drives fast around
disorienting curves.
She makes a sound,

which serves to let
him know she’s angry. Still,
he can’t stop yet.

Uphill and down,
they blunder toward the sun.
Her deepening frown

cannot compete
with what might be ahead.
He knows she’s right –

they should go home.
She’s silent, and he’s sorry,
but just the same,

“Don’t worry.”


II.

She missed the exit. Now she’s on a somber
stretch of road, hurtling away from what
she knows, toward cloud-plagued mountains and a white
inexorable sky. She dials his number,

breathing in snatches. He answers in a solemn
mumble, and she knows she woke him. Still,
he’s there, he stays with her, mile after mile,
his steady voice the star guiding her home.



In part II, S2 L1-2 was: "He answers, sounding grim. / She probably just woke him up. Oh well –"

S6 L1-2 was "cannot compete / with what might be ahead." Changed it to "does not negate / the pleasures of the road." Have changed it back for now.