It’s not really the loneliest road in America.
Save that nonsense for the travel bloggers
with their flair for the dramatic, bragging
about seeing only a few cars here and there
while driving over the rolling hills of
the Great Basin Desert, where solitude is
more than a word one conjures— where
none else will suffice a limited vocabulary
born from a stunted imagination. If you want
to be alone, lock yourself in your room
at the Cozy Mountain Motel in Austin, NV.
It will be everything lonely is cracked up to be
and you won’t have any illusions of grandeur
as you sit in the dark waiting for nothing to
happen over and over again. Estrangement
comes easy in the desert, no matter which
you find yourself crossing. Best to leave
labels and designations to those who can
make the entire journey without flinching or
resorting to bragging. Those who know
have seen the other side of desolation and
can remember what they were told about
soft landings supposedly entwined with
the ease and comfort of the modern road trip.