Santa came early this year
My car was wreck-totaled.
How will I get around?
I was totally befuddled.
An e-bike I got
With big tires to grip.
Appeared on my porch
In a box from Saint Nick.
I don’t own a car -
I ride a bike instead.
Not as easy to go far;
Requires much planning ahead.
I must tell my friends
Of my crazy experiment
So they’ll meet me half-way
Hear the heart of my sentiment.
Why this insanity
Of not owning a car?
My health and my heart
Are my true guiding star.
The cost to the environment
Of cars is so high
The emissions are blackening
My lungs and the sky.
The land is mis-managed
And stripped to its core
The animals pushed away
So you can drive to the store.
The cost of a car is so high
To the village.
Corporations don’t care
When they steal and they pillage.
The truth is I love
The experience of freedom
The wind on my face
Feeling close to “the Kingdom.” ***
I’m lucky my health
Is as good as it gets.
I’m running an experiment
A risky counter-cultural bet.
The weather’s a factor
That makes bike riding tough.
Kind of like backpacking
Much effort that’s rough.
It’s tricky with rain
With visibility low
I must crack my helmet
To let the air flow.
And then there’s the snow
That’s slippery and puffy.
My fat-tires grip
The ground, I feel lucky.
The world looks different
When I’m going slower.
No barriers between me
And nature’s true power.
My neighborhood is smaller
As I know all the streets.
And some secret places
My heart wants to keep.
I know where I am,
Finding peace on my wheels.
You might give a try —
Release your walls of steel.
By Jaime L. Prieto, Jr.
*** see book of Matthew 18:2-5