Ascendant

Beckoned me on

Draped in Spring

Her scanty sheets of green, white, gold

Rippled in the soft April air

Goat bells unseen behind drystone walls

Rang a tin din of flat notes against cleaved valley walls

Abuzz with hordes of roaming bees

Drunk on first brews of nectar

She reeled me in

Bent me to her will

Settled my pace

To match her inclination

Eyes lowered

In respect of her demands

I worked determinedly around

Her sinuous curves

Followed her tarmac vein up

With my wheels

Her high expectations

Added weight to my work

Butterflies in triplet

Immune to gravity

Mocked my heavy limbs with light-hearted dances

And drifted heavenward

Crickets churred from roadside shade

Their rhythmic chatter

A beat for my feet to spin on while my lungs burnt

Wet skin stuck sweat-stained shirt to my back

I climbed

Tyres splicking on the road’s tacky surface

I climbed

My links strained to their very limit

Her chain held strong.

.

CLP 11/11/2018