here/now

>sinewy
legs pushing pedals
nowhere is here
rutted gravel road
hands on handlebar
eyes ahead
riding hard
Nowhere in mind

>sky
gusty twisting wind
now is with
now against
sun bursts through
stubble prairie
autumn brown yellow
shadow and relief

>freedom
no banshee bankers
chasing after
commission-free
off the clock
only clouds
sailing by
like hulls of cumulous ships

>>here
a park bench
far enough away
from the workaday city
old Ukrainian man laughs
when his rheumy black dog
snuffles the sandwich
“better watch your lunch”

>>now
is forever
an opening in time-space
late summer breathes
nowhere to be
but here
damn glad
to be alive Today