The Bicyclist's Revenge

Each dawn, you rise and steel yourself to face
The reenactment of the mythic race
Of hare and tortoise, set in modern view:
A trial by metal hurtling through space.

The urban business center plots your course.
Quixote, must you try each fragile spoke
Against the looming bulk and careless force
Of SUV’s and their impatient folk?

No use to count near-misses or review
How many times a predatory hulk
Reels you breathless toward the curb to sulk
And mutter a vulgarity or two.

Perseverance furthers.  Soon they’ll find
Their radiators steaming, gears agrind
In gridlock.  Only you have room to spare,
And you, the tortoise, are the first one there.

Gracious in victory, you laugh about
The flying beer can and the sneering shout,
Forgive the glares and gestures, let them swear.
The high road’s always easier to share.

Melanie Houle

If you have any comments on this poem, Melanie Houle would be pleased to hear them.

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