(simple, childlike bicycle drawing)
Friendships in childhood are usually a matter of chance, whereas in adolescence they are most often a matter of choice. (David Elkind)
One 1950’s variety blue,
second-hand bicycle, no features
peddle-power only.
Balance, I’d mastered it.
A classmate begged to ride.
She sped down the hill,
made a squealing brake,
and met the concrete with her nose.
“It’s the bike’s fault,” she claimed.
Tears fell into the blood on her face
while she stared me down.
My parents said nothing.
Alone, I stepped into new shades of balance.
My peer seemed to choose a
shift-the-blame ploy. As a reticent child,
inaction was my norm. I hadn’t yet learned
when to be silent, when to speak.
I was mute out of fear. Balance
and courage took me years to develop.
To move from fragile ego into integrity.
A new goal reaches into my horizon, to focus
less on blame than on pain. How can I help you?
To be aware of both ploy and hurt. Neither
accepting nor giving censure. Not easy.
Balance includes more than gravity. To
maintain real-life love without being a jerk,
without giving more than I have.
One old lady moving forward, into peace.
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terrypetersen 