My husband and I decided to take a ride on our motorcycle last weekend. We went on a favorite ride from Nevada City to Downieville, CA. This is a two hour plus round trip– depending on how many stops we make. Part of this journey, we are next to the beautiful Yuba River–or one of my favorite places to be. I decided to try an experiment. I brought a small notepad and pen to write some poetry during our ride. It was challenging. I used my husband’s back as a table to write on (at first, he was rather confused…). I hung tightly onto my pen, and put each poem, as I wrote them, safely into my zipped pocket–in case I dropped my notepad. I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to read what I wrote later…but I was. Here is one of those poems which I deemed “Musings from a Harley” and will be adding to my poetry book, Just her Poetry:
MOMENTS
Moments of splendor on the back of a motorcycle
Are impolitely interrupted by road work.
We bake in the sun, that our black leather absorbs–
Motorcycle off—we sit and wait.
We are silent in the line of cars
Watching for signs of movement ahead,
When a single butterfly attracts our attention…
The flutter within the delay.
Soaring from one side of the road to the other
In its final autumn quest,
As flowers give forth their final blooms
The butterfly joins many on a late blooming weed.
My husband and I smile at each other.
The enchantment quickly dissipates
When the first car passes us…then another
Soon our direction will be moving.
The motorcycle roars into life
As the butterfly makes one last trip past us
And our time with this elegant being– gone
As the quiet fades into the past
We are on our way again.
But, the memory of the white and orange butterfly
Stays with us on our journey
As moments of splendor–never really end.
NOTE:
I tried to honor the heroes in that horrible shooting in Las Vegas with poetry– and make sense of a senseless act. It is a hard thing to process. I also wrote a couple of poems to mark the passing of Tom Petty. I’ve seen him in concert many times over the years, including just last month. I’m not ready to share these poems–yet. My plan is to include them in my poetry book. For now, I want to send out my thoughts and prayers to everyone touched by such a tragic day in America’s history. Hug your loved ones just a little tighter next time, and know I’m sending my hugs to you.
Embrace your inner child, D.L. Finn