On one of those billowy clouds

sea salt heavy in the air days,

I borrowed a bicycle, yet
every few pedals
along the path
its chain jammed up,
so I stumbled
along the side of my path
half-way
to my destination.

Pausing there,
I saw two llamas
on the other side of the fence,
just chewing,
chewing their cud,
watching me, as I
fiddled with the greasy chain,
realizing if I back pedaled, then
I could move forward again,
said a quick good-bye snort
to the llamas,

pedaling forward,
slowly I got in a rhythm of cycling
with pauses to back pedal,
a give-and-take dance with the chain links
along the gears,
along the bumpy path

as I weaved to the bottom of the hill
past the eucalyptus
to the sea.

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Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photo Credit: Mamank Ira Sudrajat/Pixoto