When Traffic Backs Up

 

 

It’s amazing what you see

When traffic backs up

Especially when trying to beat it

But ran out of luck.

 

It’s even more amazing

If you are not alone

And rather than heading to work

You’re on your way home.

 

Not only do you talk

But you look all around,

Something you couldn’t have done

When speedily bound.

 

 

 

Traffic slows to a crawl,

There’s nothing you can do

And suddenly as though by magic

So much comes into view.

 

A conversation begins

And you say to someone

Where did that building come from?

And the talk goes on.

 

Traffic forgotten,

You talk about the sights:

All the beautiful new buildings

And the other delights.

 

They were there before

But you were in a rush

And your eyes could never rest on them

Whether dawn or dusk.

 

It’s just like life!

We’re always in a hurry,

No time to slow down or stop

To take in its beauty.

 

It takes congestion

Of one kind or another

To stop us dead in our tracks

By becoming a bother.

 

We are destination bent

On the journey of life

And often in our ill-advised haste

We perpetuate strife.

 

Like a serious accident

Due to our frenetic rush

And then far more time is wasted

And unnecessary fuss.

 

 

 

When traffic backs up

Don’t fuss and fret,

Just take in the beauty all around

That you haven’t seen yet.

 

Stewart Russell © August 8, 2025