.                    PROVENANCE


       There is nothing more daunting than

        that first page of a blank book one

                 is contemplating to write.


     There are no lay-by margins, no marks

     of delineation, no direction pointers or

    numerical reminders and no stop signs.


      There are no en route filling stations

     where one can pull over to replenish

       the reservoir, with fuel for thought.


      There are no off-ramps, nothing but

       a straight, monotonous, repetitious

       vista with a vanishing point mirage.


           There are no signed posts, no

          wayside images to entertain or

          enlighten and no SOS cubicles.


          There are no serendipitous or

         intuitive encounters en passant,

      and no 'prompt thesaurus lex’icons.

                                        
      There are no Péage girls to distract

    ones concentration and turning over

         a new leaf is next to impossible.


There are no flashing lights of inspiration,

   and imagination is just as intermittent

  as windscreen wipers in undecided rain.


     There are no detours one can take in

     order to avoid the writers blockades

which occur unannounced and frequently.


     There are no alternative routes or GPS

       girls to rectify an incorrect choice one

   might have made in the haze of brain fog.  



      There are no soft shoulders to rely on

       nor no roundabouts and no rear view

      mirrors because it is a solitary passage.


        There are no excuses for not having

    made sufficient research before venturing

  forth on a journey without a DESTINATION.







Ryan O'Leary
Roaming Catholic
Poet Author Vegetarian.


14th August 2022.

France, en route to somewhere?
via Andorra, Spain and Portugal
in a camper van, with a guitar, a
sour dough starter & my 1st wife.