Dog in the ditch

Dog in the ditch

Please don’t chase me

I’m tired

I can’t outsprint you

Today.

I spent all day pulling students,

A paceline toward understanding

the Harlem Renaissance.

They drafted,

I pulled. We got there but

And I’m tired.

You carve a parallel

path through the snowy ditch,

I rise on the pedals,

Sprint over muddy

Icy gravel

Legs remember

Miles in the bank

I race you

And win

You trot home

Through the snow

Good dog

To remind me

Why I am out here

On this inconsequential gravel road

on my heavy winter mountain bike

And no longer tired