New Horizons Poem by David Abrahams

I glide through life
On two wheels -
And thank you for
The turns effortless and smooth.

I see a new horizon at the end of each
Long bend.

In 1961 - years before me -
you leaned hard into the corner
One knee scraping gravel
The other kicked off that scumbag
Scrambling for the same bit of iron and plastic -
That ticket to the big time.
Each thrum
and throb
and hum
And cheer
and scream -
music to a man possessed
By the devils of misfortune and
A chance to get ahead.

And when the piston froze
Or the rear kicked out and flung
You at 120 horrifying miles per hour
You jumped up and pitched a fit -
tossed the bike, all 400 pounds into the pits
and swore you'd bounce back
and be better for the crash.

Years later in the waning light
Of a Northwest Winter night-
Rain pounding on the picture windowpane,
Trophies casting long shadows through
Pipe smoke swirling to soften hard words
Of wisdom
to the ones who carry on the name-

Straight good luck you'd never seen.
Fairy tales are trash -
The only name you got was
What you made yourself.
No one could teach me how to stop the fall -
Just how to pick back up and shake it off.

Now - on my own two wheels
I glide through life.
Effortless and smooth
Through the turns.

At the end of each long bend
I see a new horizon.

(For my Dad on Father's Day) DSA May '10