And So She Does Poem by Richard G Berg

Father and daughter moving
Ahead, riding a bicycle unattached
To stabilisers, learning
The physics of trust

Look forward, look forward
He gently insists
With his hand warming
Her back's tense curve

And so she does
And so she does

Meanwhile, an older girl replaces that hand
With backhand returns
From a man on a tennis court, close by

She flops and flays to keep up
With his play, back-pedalling a ball's success
With an ‘ow'
Each time her racket knocks and taps
Until it's nearly over.

Advantage
Is a score that soon falls off the saddle

They lose themselves
And the game in moist grass
Behind the court

Flowerbeds colouring the two
While the rocket of a church's spire
Surges upward, Surges upward

And so it must
And so it must.


Richard G Berg
June 2024