Ode to Waze
A poem by Faith Paulsen

Ode to Waze
 
Guide me, cartoon bubble on wheels.
Chirp Where to? and hear my supplication.
Because a guardian timekeeper in the sky 
determines location by measuring time, 
  
I can choose the most direct route to my destination,
you at my right shoulder, a lamp unto my feet.
 
You forewarn me, Watch out. Object on road ahead,
and I respond, yes, the object still there.
 
Let me sail past highway drama,
my co-pilot, compass, conscience, North Star.
 
I read your signs, your pop-up prophecies
price of gas, paddling spot, the best place to park.
 
Or maybe with your guidance I dare to wander
the road less traveled by, for you are with me.
I praise your truth: Traffic is sometimes unavoidable.
Sometimes the hard road still the best.
 
If only you’d map for me those other crossings
what to say to him, where to turn,
 
late-night speed traps, chasms of grief,
wobbly dawns with no clear bearing
 
except the magnetic inclination
of what, and whom, I love.

About the Author:

Faith Paulsen’s work has appeared in venues including Philadelphia Stories, Apiary, Ghost City Press, Book of Matches, One Art, Panoply, Thimble, Evansville Review, Literary Mama and Mantis. She is the author of three chapbooks.

https://www.faithpaulsenpoet.com/

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