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I Rode With My Buddies Today
by Kari Prager
I rode with my buddies today.
We rode in a line of headlights and tailpipes,
not going anywhere special, not even going fast,
just meandering like a herd of elk
to move through the forest at our own pace.
Our sound precedes us, not loud
but unmistakable, the power of
this most romantic way of moving.
The pleasure is in the going, the mobility,
the little acts of control that contrive
to keep us centered on the road.
The crackle of dead leaves,
the burnt bitterness of autumn,
the smell of the moon still shining in the blue of the sky,
magical in the motion of the moment.
I feel my friends flowing around the bends, the line of bikes without
conscious order, in symmetrical array, till we signal the end,
stopping and turning back into individuals, the magic
fading as the motors are stilled, the jackets come off, and we breathe
in the mundane and profane air of the stationary world.
~ Reprinted from The LD List ~
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Anonymous~
If you want to make enemies, try to change something. ~Woodrow Wilson~