Slide all the way home

[duckboy]

I remember my bike squirreling out from beneath me
I’m way too fast for this turn

It is dark, there is frost and Orion has exited to the west
It is late
I can’t very well stop now, all I can do is hang on and remember how to ride

time stands still
death stands up and stares me down

I remember darkness and frozen toes
ascending to the highest point I could find on the eastern skyline
I rode all night long
to no place at all

I remember fir trees and the sound that a single piston makes as it works

I remember fire and faces and handshakes
a woman that was from the Yakima tribe

a little black dog that was ready to crawl inside my coat to come home with me
chained in the back of a frosted bed of a P.O.S. pickup truck


The topic of age came up
I was the oldest one.
The last one to talk

The only one still up at past mid night looking at the stars and wondering anything

I stepped back and watched the fire and appreciated the warmth
Hugged the Lady from the Yakima Nation

And slid all the way home.