as one whose only fear was of
open bedroom closet at night
and bumblebees
subconsciously I saw already
in the approaching tower of adulthood
what was to come

the manner in which I’d fly
across that old bridge in Arnprior
on my trusty two wheeler
like a four foot Batman
on a secret mission
to save the girl in my grade five class
who’d yet to know I existed
the walkway barely wide enough
for two shoulders to pass

to the left
the zooming traffic of Highway 17
and to the right forty feet below
the Madawaska River
a torrent in Springtime
even the bravest superhero
could not hope to traverse

the twenty-six inch frame of my bike
a high enough guarantee
that despite cement protection from freeway
and the steel railing overlooking river
a wipe out to either side of the causeway
could prove fatal

and now
though still striving for superheroism
of some kind
I’ve gotten over my attraction to speed
having found safer ways
to introduce myself to a potential girlfriend
as a lifetime of bicycles
have since been honorably retired

fondly remembered those flights of fancy
across the Madawaska
now that a walk on any highway overpass
or river bridge
brings on an historical dizziness

jokingly
I’ve coined the term headgasm
to describe the effect
when the blood vessels in my brain
involuntarily expand and contract
with the right or wrong stimulus

as for the tower of my childhood
it’s still with me
for now I work on the twenty-eighth floor
of an office building
and though I steer my imaginary bike
well away from the windows
on the upside
there are no bedroom closets here
and even bumblebees are wise enough
not to fly this high


© 2003

830 hits as of October 2024

11/30/2014

Posted on 11/30/2014
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti