Sunday, January 13, 2008

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.

3 comments:

JB said...

Teeuwen Ride fixies
Not ever a chance to coast
Keeps the legs movin'

Liz Schleeper said...

That's the spirit, JB. That was the perfect ride for fixed.

Doctor on a bike said...

Ah yes, the NSU pothole. How about this,

I stay to the right
Until angled railroad tracks
Force me to swerve left