A Poem for a Thursday #159

Sheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist, and translator. She has published a number of volumes of poetry, two novels, as well of translations of poetry mainly from German. Pugh’s poetry employs a “beguiling simplicity of language” and is devoted to storytelling. She says “I have been accused of being “populist” and “too accessible”, both of which I hope are true.”

What if this road, that has held no surprises
these many years, decided not to go
home after all; what if it could turn
left or right with no more ado
than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin
were like a long, supple bolt of cloth,
that is shaken and rolled out, and takes 
a new shape from the contours beneath?
And if it chose to lay itself down
in a new way, around a blind corner,
across hills you must climb without knowing
what's on the other side, who would not hanker
to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know
a story's end, or where a road will go? 

What if This Road
Sheenagh Pugh