355.365 - peril

I remember a clear afternoon
me and my Harley partway down
a steep hillside
what wanted to happen
was a slide and a tumble
two bodies at the bottom
neither with any way to get up
or get help
what was needed
was some traction, a pathway
despite the slipperiness
and the control to climb it slowly
with gentle applications
of throttle and clutch
defiance of gravity
long enough to get back
to the road
somewhere inside myself
I found patience and experimentation
and that gentleness
and made a way back
from where I never needed to be
except for my own curiosity
my own dare
I remember sitting on my Harley
on the edge of the asphalt
when we'd made it back up
grinning down the hillside
at where we might have ended up lying
grinning again riding the curves
of the asphalt
remembering
and glad to be back on the road