A Leisurely Bike Ride
A leisurely bike ride along the bush track,
Nothing too strenuous – 2ks then back.
Nothing competitive; dawdling along,
Enjoying the scenery and humming a song.
A leisurely bike ride – me on my own,
No need to hurry, 2ks then home.
4ks in total, pedalling with ease,
One cloud of pollen watch out I may sneeze.
The bell birds say “tink” as I ride through their patch.
Then past an echidna having a scratch.
Butterflies easily keep up the pace.
Dragonflies hover; their wings look like lace.
The ride is delightful – it’s time to turn back,
But just wait a minute – what’s that on the track?
A kangaroo lazily hopping ahead.
Is it a grey or is it a red? I’ll just go and see…
Faster and faster I quadruple my cadence
Just scraping through a gap in a farm fence.
The kangaroo is bounding in front at great speed,
But I am the one who will soon take the lead.
I crank up the gears and decrease my resistance.
By crouching down low, in less time more distance.
With speed and endurance I’ve almost succeeded,
In passing a grey kangaroo unpreceded.
The tail wind is strong; I am zooming along,
But all of a sudden something goes wrong.
The kangaroo disappears off the bush track,
Into the scrub and doesn’t hop back.
I skid to a halt – my heart is arrhythmic.
I cannot believe it – oh what a mean trick!
And as the dust settles, I stand all alone,
Except for a sign that says – “20ks home.”
Louise McCarthy
Hi Jeanie, This poem will appear in “Outback” magazine February/March 2018 edition. The poem was inspired by one of your poetry prompts. Cheers Louise
Sweet poem! I loved the cadence of “The tail wind is strong; I am zooming along,/But all of a sudden something goes wrong.” It changed the feel of the poem so suddenly to the point that when I first read the next two lines, “The kangaroo disappears off the bush track,/Into the scrub and doesn’t hop back.,” I thought something terrible had happened to the kangaroo! But then it’s clear that she’d just hopped off to her own next adventure, leaving the speaker to hers 🙂
Thank you Madeleine. I hadn’t actually thought about there being an element of suspense. I am glad you enjoyed the poem. It is interesting to hear a readers perspective. Kind Regards, Louise