"Passing by Old Highway 17 Road" by Richard LeDue

It reminds me of telling someone

they'll always be something,

until they die- the old road

wrinkled with cracks,

while the new highway isn't

a smooth ride either- my tires

slowly balding as I go grey,

and after three days in a car,

our conversations can't help

but go flat, like that low carb bread

the doctor recommended, trying to keep us

alive a little longer, our mouths too full

to admit one day there'll be no more

trips back east or west for us,

only newer routes,

leading to the same destination.

Richard LeDue (he/him) currently lives in Norway House, Manitoba. He is a Best of the Net nominee. His first chapbook came out in 2020, and a second chapbook, “Winnipeg Vacation,” was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2021. As well, his third chapbook, “The Kind of Noise Worth Writing Down,” was published in late 2021 from Kelsay Books.