Poem: “Ride”
April 24: 30 days of new poems for National Poetry Month
Published in
Apr 24, 2024
Ride
Such a busy neighborhood today. Leaf blowers,
weed whackers, lawnmowers. Roofers, painters,
plumbers. A pile of things on a curb next to a
handwritten “Free” sign: bicycle, chair, towels.
Building up, tearing down, reshaping, maintaining.
Tweaking. The air percolates with our fidgety
unease. Do we think we’re sharks, requiring motion
to survive? Movement is not the antidote to death.
This is the problem with love poetry. It fails to recognize
“in love” as where we begin, and that “falling out” is the
only change possible. The work of love is not arriving somewhere
else, but staying where we are. Think of the numberless things
that had to happen in precisely the sequence they happened
for you to be with someone you love. Let it ride.
