I finished the novel and then began to read Pablo Neruda's poems in the appendix. That's when I came across his poem "Ode to Bicycles" and it struck a chord.
You see, I have thoroughly enjoyed riding my bicycle to work, it is the perfect way to start the day; fresh air and a chance to take a closer look at the beauty of summer around me. At the end of the day riding bike is a great way to relax. Yesterday though, I was unable to ride my bike since I had a midday appointment across town. Just reading this poem made me want to get back on my bicycle.
Ode to BicyclesI was walking
down
a sizzling road:
the sun popped like
a field of blazing maize,
the
earth
was hot,
an infinite circle
with an empty
blue sky overhead.
A few bicycles
passed
me by,
the only
insects
in
that dry
moment of summer,
silent,
swift,
translucent;
they
barely stirred
the air.
Workers and girls
were riding to their
factories,
giving
their eyes
to summer,
their heads to the sky,
sitting on the
hard
beetle backs
of the whirling
bicycles
that whirred
as they rode by
bridges, rosebushes, brambles
and midday.
I thought about evening when the boys
wash up,
sing, eat, raise
a cup
of wine
in honor
of love
and life,
and waiting
at the door,
the bicycle,
stilled,
because
only moving
does it have a soul,
and fallen there
it isn't
a translucent insect
humming
through summer
but
a cold
skeleton
that will return to
life
only
when it's needed,
when it's light,
that is,
with
the
resurrection
of each day.
-Pablo Neruda
