Wheels
I grind and claw and dig and shred
My way up and out and away
Away from myself
To the exquisite feeling
Inhabiting the calibrated cadence
Where body and mind are one
Soles and buzzing bottoms of toes hugging the arch
Heels ever so slightly tweaking down
Calves bulging
Hamstrings taut, vibrating, quads and glutes and hips and abs
Finding their sinew transformed with effort
Smooth concrete
Jagged rocks
A wall
Sometimes the forest is in the mind
And sometimes
It is behind and out front and all around
Or is it in the trees?
You are so strong.
A faint point of light fades far into the darkness behind eyelids
Pulsating
I hear blood
Sweat
Behind my ears
Drenching
Warm palms lightly guide the handlebars
Shoulders away from the ears
Those damn shoulders never stay down
Go.
I find the deepest part of the saddle
Launching
Propelling
My spine straightens
And I am here, now
Or I was, then
Everywhere and nowhere
Air entering screaming lungs
That cannot hear
Feet and knees and pedals and wheels
Forward
Chest open
Heart open
Eyes open
Wide
alive.
