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Poetry Friday: Stopping by the Path on a Summer Day

A few weeks ago a bicycle appeared, parked on a side path that branches off of the primary footpath through our village. That footpath (really, for feet, bicycles and scooters) is heavily traveled, especially mornings and afternoons when school is in session. 

We walked past this bike on many a lunch-time walk and errand, and periodically the bicycle would be in a different place. Sometimes it was parked right at the junction of the two paths, and other times it was half-way up the side path to the little quartier where we live. 

I guess it's the writer in me - I see stories everywhere - and I kept wondering: whose bike is this? why is it parked here? who moves it? One day, as I was wondering, my brain started riffing on Robert Frost's poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. 

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

You can read the rest of the poem here.  


After we got home from our walk, I wrote today's poem - a lighthearted summer poem after Robert Frost's Snowy Evening.

Stopping by the Path on a Summer Day

photo of a blue bicycle parked on a path by grass. A poem copyright 2021 by Elisabeth Norton: Whose bike this is I do not know. They must live in the village though; Else why would they have parked it here along this path? I do not know. The bike, it moves, from there to here From time to time - I find that queer! Who moves the bike I cannot say. Is it the owner, keeping near? Or does a neighbor, on their way Move the bike from day to day in hopes some passerby says “Oh!” I’ve found my bike! Hip-hip-hooray! My lovely bike, I’ve missed it so! I’ve many places still to go And miles to ride both to-and-fro And miles to ride both to-and-fro.”


The day after I wrote the poem, the bike disappeared! So I'm guessing that someone did walk past and have that aha! moment.

Our host for the Poetry Friday Roundup today is Molly over at Nix the Comfort Zone. She's rounding up all of the Poetry Friday posts here. 

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Comments

  1. Linda MitchellJuly 16, 2021 at 1:04 PM

    I love the story and the poem and the fact that the bike disappeared! Ha! And, my mind runs like that too....story questions by the minute. I swear! Who left it? Why? Maybe it's...
    There's always something brewing. I just need a big butterfly net to catch one of the ideas and study it for longer than my brain takes off again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. KatApel - katswhiskers.wordpress.comJuly 16, 2021 at 1:56 PM

    Oh! I love this. I was so invested in the bike mystery... and then it disappeared! I love your poem, too. Beautifully done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mary LeeJuly 16, 2021 at 3:47 PM

    So. Much. Fun.

    If only the bike had stayed a little bit longer so you could have pinned your poem to the handlebars!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heidi MordhorstJuly 17, 2021 at 12:18 AM

    A good bit of mystery, and always fun to piggyback on a classic!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JoneJuly 17, 2021 at 4:32 AM

    This is such a wonderful story poem. And so many questions. Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. TabathaJuly 17, 2021 at 10:45 AM

    Enjoyed sharing the mystery with you! You've made a charming poem from it. I know what you mean about seeing stories everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carol VarsalonaJuly 17, 2021 at 2:24 PM

    The writer inside you produced a wonderful Frost-like story poem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Susan T.July 17, 2021 at 4:50 PM

    That is so funny that the bike disappeared after you wrote about it--almost as if it were a phantom this whole time! I would have wondered about it, too. Love the poem!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Denise KrebsJuly 17, 2021 at 7:50 PM

    Elisabeth, a perfect story you told about the bicycle. Frost's skeleton was just what you needed. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Marilyn MinerJuly 17, 2021 at 11:46 PM

    I loved the story and the poem! So fun to imagine the lives of others and their possessions.

    ReplyDelete
  11. mbhmaineJuly 18, 2021 at 1:24 AM

    What a delightful poem! Thanks for sharing the backstory. I love how you saw this bike and it sparked your imagination and then your poem. The poem feels like a combo Robert Frost/Dr. Seuss to me. Love it!

    ReplyDelete

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