Bike Rider

I've been thinking about the best way to get over an obstacle in life, and to me the most important thing to remember is to just keep going. Nothing can stop me if I don't let it get to my head.

 

I follow the bumpy winding path

the wet, blurry ground zooming past below me

or am I the blur, a jet of pedals and wheels?

That doesn’t matter now.

 

The rough sharkskin ground reaches up - the plane has landed.

No applause welcomes its captain - just a single loud clap.

 

The handlebar stabs,

The chain’s teeth latch on to my feet.

Oiled claws drag across my calf.

I close my eyes. This is the end.

Take me home!

 

Or leave me lying here.

 

But my attention shifts to a pond.

A lake - an ocean of a puddle.

I see myself - tears dripping down

They fall, sending rippling waves across.

My reflection is warped, my eyes momentarily disappear.

But then the sea calms.

There I am, same tearstained cheeks, teary eyes, tousled hair that

has nothing to do with the fall.

 

I smile. So does Puddle.

Thank you, he says.

I am fuller than ever before.

 

And then I understand.

 

I understand, and I slowly get up,

wincing as pain rips through again.

But I bear it and hobble on.

Soon Puddle cannot see it.

I am a black dot, long gone down the winding sidewalk.