First I’ll share with you this
and don’t think me demented.
But tumors stole my talus bone
and now it’s been cemented.
Just as with my ankle
which stabs me when I stroll.
This story is quite painful
And pain is tough to control.
But pain has rarely stopped me
from getting on my bike.
It’s been my lifelong passion
and less painful than a hike.
I’m sure you’ve guessed already
my ankle’s quite the pain.
But now I need to crank
and beat the coming rain.
Where is it I’m going
with clouds so mean and black?
To the bottom of Sir Willis –
where I’m planning an attack.
My rhyming is quite choppy
in its meter and the beat.
But if you want to follow,
you’ll have to grab my seat.
Forgive me at the start
cuz I’m sure you’ll hear me swear.
If such words offend you
I’ve made you full aware.
The fucking hill is wicked steep
and you pedal or you drop.
You have to start all over
if you fall off or you stop.
If a car decides to clip you
and to the ground for fun –
turn around and go back down,
that attempt is done.
It’s a mile and a half
from the bottom to the top.
The distance isn’t far for bikes
unless it’s steep and ends at stop.
The thing about Sir Willis
as one begins to attack,
It’s got an ugly temper
and the bitch will pull you back.
It’s a grade of high percentage.
Like something stupid crazy!
Skip it if you dislike pain
and forget it if you’re lazy.
I’m enough past ideal weight
that I know it will be tougher.
My thighs are fairly solid
but my gut will make me suffer.
So I kick and I approach
and click down on the gearing.
I’m pulling my bars so fucking hard
I’m scared that I’m not steering.
I sit and grind three slow strokes
then stand up and shift once more.
I’m spitting gasps of jagged breaths
while tires grab the pimpled floor.
I will not spoil the outcome.
Let it play out in your mind.
Endings are often twisted fate.
Some struggles are cruelly unkind.
My ankle did not crumble
and my heart stayed in my chest.
These questions stay unanswered
if I had failed to take the test.
Okay – to Hell with being modest
with the secret of fail or pass.
I stomped my pedals like grapes
and tore up Sir Willis’s ass.
Conversation Life 