Ten ways of looking at a motorbike

Ten ways of looking at a motorbike

(after Wallace Stevens’ Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird)

I
The trouble with motorbikes is
the kerb shuffling in
on my slow control U turns.

II
I was a yearling
among stallions
snorting up a shaft-driven storm.

III
The wind filled up my plastic head.
I should have kept my mouth shut.

IV
A man and a woman
are two.
A man a woman and a motorbike
are two.

V
The insolvency lawyer’s ordered his Ducatti.
Sixteen grand.
He’s certain next year he’ll be making a killing.

VI
I do not know which to prefer,
the engine awake
or the engine sleeping,
the full-throttled surge
or the safety of neutral.

VII
A sleek red Audi sliced my right eye
with no sound.
The squeeze, click, click of my gears was delicious.
I could have overtaken, but I didn’t.

VIII
Oh wrinkled black leathers
why do you love your kickstarts?
Do you not hear the white Honda purr
at the tap of one finger?

IX
Suzanne was unflinching,
holding back champing cars
when I flopped on the roundabout.
Just nudged at her goggles
as I lugged by leg from the coughing metal.

X
The only thing moving in the ten mile tailback
was the rear of a black Kawasaki.