5-7-5 in the 7-5-7

(left, Me, McMahon and Young Mark on the pre-Teeuwen loop today. Photo by Dan Gibson.)

I am well aware that the Internet is overstocked with bad poetry. I can't resist, however, entering this Haiku contest the Virginian Pilot has going. The theme is "Hampton Roads Traffic." Who better suited than cyclists to create traffic poetry? (Most popular American versions of Haiku follow 5-7-5 syllable count, though it's not that simplified in Japanese. So I stray at times.) A sample:

Honks and Jeers fade

when flags half-mast stretch sideways

in bitch-slapping wind.

Grazing the pavement

an innocent touch of wheels

I bleed before it hurts.

Back in the saddle

I hit Norfolk State's pothole

after two weeks off.

The cop pulled up

herded us like teenagers

irate driver had called.