Coming Back To This

Coming back to this, like you’ve never been away
the book in your hands, the light on your bare skin
the afternoon sun putting your window on the floor
and you comfortably inside it
                                               Coming back to this
after an afternoon of old revisitations - one minute
you were in Blackhill negotiating a sloped wall
not wanting to damage yourself or the bike
another minute you were hammering over rough
downhill terrain - the Doctor’s Wood has hardly changed
save the overgrowth of nettles (due to lack of
daring teenagers riding the wall of death)
and leaves slapping your arms and face as you
gently finger the brakes, anticipating an old tree-root
still lingering in the back of the mind
                                                          Coming back to this
Bridgehill, Pemberton Road, the church car park, the
Black Path (oh how could you forget the
Black Path – sledges in winter, skateboards high summer)
cruising like a teenager, in and out of cuts and
back alleys, dropping
                                  off small walls, looking forward to
being able to hop back onto them – hey, it’s like you’ve
never been away
                           But too much of a good thing…
and so back you cruised to homeground – dripping and
full of fire – to haul the bike over the step, put the kettle on
run the bathwater
                            And after your long hot soak
here you are again, relaxing, by the window
late afternoon sun soothing your aching limbs as you
sip sweet tea and read sensations felt by some female soul
on another part of the globe
Coming back to this, it’s like you’ve never been away
All the agony of a breakdown, the months of
hospital appointments and therapy – a mere blip
barely worth mentioning? – but coming back to this
for a moment or two at least, helps put things in perspective
Thank your lucky stars for endurance
thank your lucky stars for freestyle bikes and poetry
The birds sing and the seconds
tick away at the edge of the table
Coming back to this
you will always find yourself
                                             Coming back to this


© Steve Urwin 2009