W. H. Petty
Becoming a Bicycle-Man, Old
‘So now you’ve become a bicycle-man.
Good-tempered?‘ ‘Yes.'
‘Young in mind?'
‘No, very old, older than granite
and the war-times
and the dead ones.'
‘And old is good?'
‘Yes, I can stand on loose pedals, shouting
as I hill-shoot
and go plunging
down to the smoking township
with its mill-walls,
black, embracing.'
‘And that’s being old?'
‘Yes, it’s life, cap-waving, coat-tails free,
and the hard sets, healthy,
can jab your spine to vigour, make muscles dance
through the dun years,
invincible.'
‘So off you go.'
They took the sets away long years ago
and themed the woollen mill.
The stone is clean.
I cannot, must not watch
this mirrored scene.
Away we go.
Away we go.
Page(s) 67
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