National Bike Month Poetry Submissions

COMMUNITY POETRY SUBMISSIONS
 

Haikus by Ilene M.

The best feeling is
a child not knowing you
let go of the seat

It's on the downhill
I reluctantly ride the
bike game, “stick or snake”

Haiku by Charlyn E.

Why is this so hard?
Bumpy road? Hungry? Flat tire?
Turn corner. Oh! Headwinds.

Haiku by Kim T.

Stuck in quarantine.
Brief, joyful tandem escape,
Captain and Stoker.

Poem by Nikolai D

Gate Crash

At hilltop the bike stands sturdy
Its rider with shoulders squared
The path lies bare and dirty
Wheels tipping forward prepared
His visor tipped to block the sun
The light setting hair aglow
The journey has begun
Eyes locked on the gate below

Petals spin as the speed builds up
The wind roars like the sea
Your feet move quickly as the pressure does let up
Your flying now, truly free
In your ears your heartbeat drumming
The feeling these wheels bestow
But you can see it now, it is coming…
Eyes locked on the gate below

That moment of bliss is gone
The panic is sinking in
I have to carry on
But there’s no place to turn, no way to win
Brakes screech across the ground
The roar of wind is silenced
I cannot turn around
The handlebars feel unbalanced
Nowhere to fall, nowhere to go
I should have stopped, I could have seen
For I had my eyes locked on the gate below

Poem by Charlie J.

Little Gears

Little gears
Required and
A water bottle filled

The smallest step
Victorious
Though climbing up huge hills

Inch by inch
We surely ride
And slowly rise until

Valleys become
mountains become
summits through will

Haikus by William D.

Thunderstorms on list.
Not for me! I just ride out
A spring shower heals.

A dry locking down?
Yikes! Stare down a keyboard—I
Escape on two wheels.

Poem by Jay T.

On the Way to Goshen

Looking down from the top of the hill into the valley, the sight blinds me. The valley is totally blanketed with an early morning sheet of white low-lying clouds. The sun reflects off the top in bright waves. My eyes blink and run tears from the combination of the cold air, the stiff climb I’ve just completed, and the great light before me.

I coast down the hill and into the thick of the fog. The white mist swallows me up hungrily. Soon the sun I had seen so brilliantly on the hill disappears and is replaced by a steady white glow that hits me from all angles.

There is no direction here but forward. There is total void in this valley. Void but for me, my bicycle, the road it rolls along, and the cold. A stiff, penetrating, biting cold that eats through my hands and starts up my arms. I am conscious of its existence but I cannot feel pain. I cannot feel anything in this valley of void.

Poem by Amalya W.

....Chrysalis Cycling....

Fresh air awakens
The lost child inside
Giggling while vowing to balance
Need and desire
Between
Flesh, Metal, Rubber, and
Mentality
We break connection with the achievable
for a moment we don't have to be
Anywhere at all
Flying between destinations
Unbound by frozen motion
Mindfulness gears up
Serenity everafter
The streets rush in like
Hot blood in our veins
Medicine in motion
Hearts pumping
Constant reality
Spiriling inward
Breathe

Poem by Jacquie M.

cycology:

helmet, vest, lock and key
down the street, look, stop, see

handle bars, saddle, tires, spokes
first gear, second gear, third gear, go

uphill push, downhill glide,
destination ahead, ’twas a fine ride

Haiku by Mateo M.

The road goes upward
conversation stops, puff, pant
The silence of hills