A Road Well-Traveled

At the end of a winter
filled with a lifetime of
blizzards, brutal lows, and biting winds,
the roads buckle and heave,
pockmarked
bleached white
from the liberal application of salt.
Foundations crumble
revealing lines and cracks
Unexpected stress marks appear
overnight
and crisscross
like unsightly veins.

A woman of a certain age
can relate
to unexpected lumps
rising precipitously
from previously flat terrain
and the pitted dimpled tarmac
replacing erstwhile taut skin
She sympathizes
with the sudden appearance
of cracks and crumbling edges,
visible veins,
and the streaks of white or grey
on once dark surfaces
The patina of age.

Day 19