Hi Corrie,
I have been trying to contact you to send on Denise Ortiz's permission for you to use her poem about biking on your blog. She also sends you another poem about bking. Denise's e-mail is
[email protected]
Greetings,
I am delighted to share my biking poem (and one other) with you for your blog page. I looked at your page and it looks good! I used to know some people living in Lewiston who bike a lot....esp. Sean Ellis and his wife. Maybe you know them. Enclosed is the poem you requested and another called WHEELS which people seem to like; plus it's shorter so it might lend itself better to limited space. Thanks for your interest and Happy Rides to you! I hope we'll meet some day........Denise
I Keep Riding
The industrial park on the hill
pursues our town
and farmlands
and me
with long asphalt legs
like a big black spider.
Chases us down
little by little
wraps us up
and spits us out
as strip malls
and parking lots.
I try to escape
to the trail on my bike
to back roads
clotheslining little farms together
flung apart like shirts blown free
on open winds.
And I keep riding.
On the trail
deer and fawn watch from the bluff
badger complains
rabbits scare
hawks stare
frogs sing in
the evening
And I keep riding.
About a third of the way
where Paradise Creek strains in summer
honey-hued hawk
breaks my heart
snatching helpless fieldmouse,
then mends me by feeding him
to her bawling babies
in nest atop pine tower.
And I keep riding.
The city fathers talk
of extending their weblike water and sewer lines
out here.
And I keep riding.
Wheels
My wheels know better than I
sometimes.
I like the paved paths,
but
my bike likes a little
dirt road
or mud puddle on her tires
before we go in.
I want straight streets
and open lots
if I drive to work,
but
my truck insists on being
parked
near a tree, any tree,
even in winter.
And these feet don=t mind
the university track, or downtown
sidewalks,
but they sure prefer
the uneven mounds of the mountains
or the churned up soil of our farms
or the stiff grasses of our Palouse.
My wheels know better than I
sometimes.
By Denise Ortiz
1740 NW Wayne St. #14
Pullman, WA 99163
(509) 332-0289
