I’ve always loved bumpy roads

More than highways

Or freshly paved neighborhood streets 

I don’t know if it has more to do with the soothing feeling 

That comes with my bones knocking together as the van wheels

Fight against the rocks scraping kindly against the rubber tread

Or if it's more about the moments I’ve spent

In a 2006 Ford E150 on an unpaved Maine dirt road

So many moments

My head on your shoulder

A Lumineers song quietly humming in our ears

Rocking to sleep with the turbulent vibrations

The sun rising softly over the late summer mountains

My arms rapping tenderly against yours as I let my body become victim to the uneven soil

Us singing that song as we gaze out at the river 

And the mountain we stood on top of just the day before

The intimate state of Maine, ours alone

Trees chirping back to us as tears traced my eyes and we pulled into

The long, final road home

Vocal chords straining for the notes of 

Take Me Home, Country Roads

My ear ringing as it dug into your shoulder blade, your head resting on top of mine

Fighting against sleep’s sirens

Dwelling somberly in my last moments with you

There’s an ocean and a couple countries between us now

But I think I’ve figured out why it is I like bumpy roads so much

It’s because I’ve only ever traveled them with you