Rusting Dented One-Speed - June 19 2023

 

Rusting Dented One-Speed

June 19 2023



The battered bike

chained to a lamppost

seems lost without its rider;

the front wheel askew,

and leaning sharply sideways

like a drunk on Saturday night.

Coaster bikes like this

  —  a rusting dented one-speed

with iffy pedal brakes   —

are certified safe,

chained-up or not;

who would want to steal it?

Homely, forlorn, unwanted

it waits,

a needy orphan

eager to be claimed;

if not its absent owner

then a random passer-by.

But she eventually returns,

fumbling with the chain

and mounting it awkwardly.

Shopping bag

in the big handle-bar basket,

knee-length skirt

gathered in one hand.

A lady of a certain age

with a sensible helmet

over thinning grey-hair,

and a sturdy bike

that, like her

is slow, heavy, old.

She claims a lane

and heads for home,

taking her time

and ignoring the horns.

A stately procession

of lady and bike

down the middle of the road.