Rusty and Worn

Dear Bike

I saw you lying there

You looked sad

Rusty and worn

Unattended

Unkept

And so I picked you up

Brushed you off

Positioned you straight as an arrow

On a rusty and worn wall

And standing there

You no longer looked rusty and worn

Suddenly, rusty and worn was the new old you

You shouted

"Hey! Look at me! I've been places and seen things

Beautiful roads and ice cream parlours

And children have loved me

Especially that one

With the red corduroy skirt and pigtails

She laughed so hard you could feel the gravel move beneath your tires

And she and I would ride together

Off into the sunset

We chased the orange and golden fiery bliss

Until it turned into the whitest of moons

And we creaked back home to sleep."

I liked the new old you

So I took a picture

To remember

The red corduroy skirt

And the pigtails

And the fiery sunsets

And the whitest of moons

And the most wonderful rusty and worn bike

~Carrie Stroud