Response to Northography #253 – A Photo by Gina Kelly

http://www.northography.com/responses.php?stimulus_id=253

Poem 1 – Rest

bicycles succumb to rust;
natures persistent chase
returning forged steel to earth.
paint chips lifted by ocean wind,
orange and blue confetti
land and rest at my feet.
neither memory tarnished.

Poem 2 – Dust

I road from the coast that day
(dirty and oily from picking olives)
Beneath the grayed heavy fall sky
Your voice and last sentence repeated
With each turn of the pedal and wheel.

The dusty rutted road longs for rain
Coughs up dirt and pebbles as I follow
My brothers past grapevines toward town.

Sweaty hands from anticipation
Become glued to the handlebars.

Onto cobblestones the bike becomes
Unsteady as I pedal faster – almost there.
I see your bike in the alley behind the café.

Carefully leaning Rusty against yours
I find you beneath a grand umbrella on the sidewalk.
“It’s a girl”.