ROAD

A wide straight dirt road that stretched

in each direction. A pillar of haze

in the distance and cuffs of dust

that burst underfoot. By nightfall the road

had narrowed to two lanes of cobble

reflecting streaks of full moon in a tumble

of willow branch. The stone grazed the skin

on my soles. By dawn, my toes had sliced open

to the bone and the road had thinned

to a gilded sliver of wooden walkways

that climbed up from the river basin

and into the canopy. I found firm ground again

when the pine board gave out to water

polished concrete at the summit.

From here on the steps fell through grassland

that flattened out into savannah and broadened

into a dirt road that was wide and straight.