How I Learn

March Sommerville MA

.

Salt crust

On the floor under the bike

Unused for a month

. 

Oil crud & salt

Along the gutters

Early March

.. 

Pain evenly

Distributed along the back

More pain

 .

Making time

Across distance

Along a path

 .

Some snow

Fallen given a delicate

Wind chime

 .

Cough not cold

The road jitters

Skin raw

 .

After a long ride

Licking salt from her face

Broken skin

 .

Alcohol exhaled

Harsh breath bone bruised

Lip split

 .

Shirt sour

After two days riding

Continued effort

 .

Flat pain

Dull light missing Yoshie

Possibly morning

 .

The cup cold

Until water heats it

Tea steeps

 .

A hot shower

Then dry towels and

A clean pressed shirt

 .

Silence not

Memory as night angles

Fade to light

 .

You are here

As much as I can bear

You not being here

(Patricia Highsmith The Price of Salt filtered through Michael Snow’s Wavelength).

Maybe Spring, Yeah Spring - Cycling Lines March-May 2009

.

Milder, maybe?

.

rain finally

skin softening and salt

drips from the frame

.

Out the 117

.

pedaling farther

pedaling farther again

spring air

.

Spring, but still harsh

.

body tightening

against the wind

pushes back

.

March river birds

.

song woven

along the river thrush

then sparrow then

.

In slow motion

.

air swaddled

the sound whole circling

circles

.

Early climb

.

red hazed

the hill breaks me then

I break it

.

Still riding

.

choking on
falling blossoms gasping
for breath

.

---
.
rain punctured
half way out then
half way home

.

Cambridge side, along the Charles

.

mud ruts
the wheel handles itself
velocity direction

.

Rain approaching

.

moon shadowed
close enough to touch
with my breath
.
---
.
thunder depth
off west - maybe twenty
minutes to get home

.

After spring cleaning

.

road dust

on the clean bike’s

sheen

.

A longer ride in

.

blossoms mushed
into the rubber leaving
pink tracks
.
---
.
cloud mellowed
distance falling away in
the wheels' turning

.

---

.

circular repetition

going round and round until

a different rest

.

Geese with goslings

.

geese hissing
hissing back - asking politely
to clear the path

.

Clean ride

.

fixed gear locking
hips drive train rubber
to the floor
.
---
.
perfect cadence
in the gear ratio going
up and down

.

Warm morning

.

summer approaching

the river smell thickens

pedaling on

.

Climbing

.

losing salt into

sweat thick as blood

keep climbing

.

---

.

thigh ache

the vice tightens as

the hill ticks up

.

Under the leaves

.

chlorophyll wash
cycling cycling until
lungs full

.

Large pot hole

.
ping ping ping

spokes popping off
the rim warped

.