A Birthday Bike Ride

A birthday bike ride,
blue balloon bopping around.
Five years old, so he can’t read
the ‘Happy Birthday’ upside down.

Pedaling to an unknown place,
blue striped mask on his tiny face.
“Tangled up in Blue,” earbud’s tune.
Determined to reach the water by noon.
A man-made lake that reflects the sky,
so we could play amongst
the clouds for just a little while.
Took off our shoes,
touched pebbly sand,
waded in the shadowy water
baptizing each other with clean hands.

We are more alike than ever before.
We will all be changed before we wade this shore.

11 responses to “A Birthday Bike Ride”

abigfatcanofworms

Lovely thoughts. I love the reflections that allow you to play in the clouds. And the interweaving of the virus and Bob Dylan.

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1. K.Hartless
  
  Thank you for reading and commenting. That track was actually playing and seemed to fit the overall surreal experience.
  
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johnlmalone

lovely poem; love the baptismal image like that haunting scene in ‘O Brother Where Rt Thou?’when the white-robed participants walk down to the river singing ‘O brothers let’s go down, down to the river to pray’ before they are lowered into the waters to be cleansed and renewed; I like the last two lines of your poem reflecting this 🙂 love the Dylan song too; a simple but moving post 🙂

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1. K.Hartless
  
  Thank you kindly, John. Oh Brother has such a quirky, memorable vibe, so thank you for the comparison. My biking poems flow plain, but in a good way, written as they are experienced in a cadence of easy pedaling. Wonder, how will be changed if and when we reach the shore of this virus? Still treading here.
  
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  1. johnlmalone
    
    it might be a whole new world, Karen 🙂 and yes, I enjoyed the easy cadence of your poem 🙂
    
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johnlmalone

oh btw I notice that ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ is from the same album as “Shelter from the Storm’, my favourite Dylan track but its anemic compared to the live electric version from Japan in ’76. It’s on YouTube 🙂

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1. K.Hartless
  
  Nice. Will be sure to check that version out. Thanks, John. 😉
  
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Mister Bump UK

Glad you managed to get out for a ride, I’d heard that the weather hadn’t been so good over there lately.

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Ingrid

Simply beautiful! Love that song too 😊

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1. K.Hartless
  
  Thank you kindly, Ingrid. The biking poems that come to me are some of my favorites.
  
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Hobbo

Just the thought of being on a bike is uplifting. Great poem.

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