Cycling Poetry Thread

moonio

I found this whilst searching for cycling peotry on google

"i yearn for the summer time"

i want to feel the coolness of a breeze on my sweat drenched clothes,
every short-cut is unobstructed by the banks when it snows,
the delicious air that's so refreshing and mild,
i can hit the trails in the woods and feel a little wild,
the precision of warm rubber on dry pavement,
i can move about town with out looks of amazement,
i do not have to worry about staying warm,
my shoes have clips and i worry about my form,
my water bottles don't freeze by them selves,
the road bike waits patiently in the garage by the shelves,
a ride in the summer is freedom, don't take it for granted
six months of the year i trudge through snow muttering god damn it!

i do not need to de-ice the tumblers in my lock when it storms,
i dislike society but in summer its easier to follow the norms
just being that guy who rides a bike and not one who is crazy,
surrounded by those who are too f**kin lazy,
despite all the odds i am not snowbound ,
i pedal my happy ass all around,
watch my coworkers scurry to their cars,
with out a gas pedal they wont go far,
perhaps man is to domesticated,
im not just an a**hole its a little more complicated
don't forget that you are still a primate,
what good are you if you cant survive in your natural climate?
hold on to that little bit of natural instinct,
who am i kidding lets just hope some people still think.

Kieran_Burns

In my defense i CANNOT do rhyming poetry, however... I had an idle few minutes


Through my efforts I shall succeed
To commute on my cycling steed
The distance may be far
But I shall not use my car
For pedal power is now my creed

Now you may laugh at my cycling apparel
As I look like a lycra clad barrel
but I am getting fitter
for I am no quitter
As you sit in your car at your peril

and my bike is so very fast
and through the traffic jams I can blast
You sit and you steam
and you can only dream
Of a journey that doesn't last and last

biondino

Isn't that like saying "in my defence I do murder people, m'lud, but..."

tardington

I did some haiku for my English thing way back at school. I got a pretty good mark! Looking back I think they had no idea what I was on about and didn't want to mark me down and get a complaint.

laughingboy

I know some poems in which bicycles/cycling make an appearance. Is that good enough? If so:

Church Going by Philip Larkin

A Constable Calls and Wheels Within Wheels by Seamus Heaney

Miss Gee by WH Auden

and perhaps best of all Machines by Michael Donaghy.

biondino

There is a wonderful HG Wells short story (not a poem, sorry) called "A Perfect Gentleman On Wheels" - bicycles are featured heavily (and not an iota of sci-fi nonsense). I'm trying to see if it's available free online - it shouldn't be, but you know how things are...

Kieran_Burns

biondino wrote:

Isn't that like saying "in my defence I do murder people, m'lud, but..."

It wasn't THAT bad surely? :oops:

Kieran_Burns

Well - if it was bad...

How about this:


My bike is my friend
and with it, I shall wend
down lanes and roads afar
you can keep your car,
your smell,
your jar
of tortuous hell,
of plastic and steel
and I'll stay my pace
and keep my place
of heaven on wheels

You, you should learn your lesson
for I'll not fatten
my frame, while on sat my arse
In a piece of hell
and YOU remember well,
the evil commute in cars



Does THAT work?


I really don't DO the rhyme style poetry... I normally do the flow type stuff. Kind of get a rhythm of words going

OldSkoolKona

Excellent thread! Just the sort of thing that makes the commuting forum such a cool place 8)

tardington

OldSkoolKona wrote:

Excellent thread! Just the sort of thing that makes the commuting forum such a cool place 8)

Yes. Those two totally need encouragement.

:shock:

lost_in_thought

I have only this to say:

http://www.itsnotarace.org/about/

lost_in_thought

Oh, and from the same site:

In fear of pursuit
I press on into the gale
Quietly weeping

- Dunston_checks_in
Early SCR haiku

tardington

I liked them all too! I really like fancy haiku (plural) sorry but biondino knows!

But haiku(s) are super easy to write...

Lost in thought, just why,
and what do you think about it?
the people will ask.

dirk_van_gently

I am a complete philistine when it comes to poetry, it's bollox!

However for those interested:

http://citycycling.co.uk/issue47/issue47page32.html

downfader

Has anyone got a voice like Richard Burton? We need someone with caliber to read those out and stick them on youtube.

I've been writing poems all my life... wouldnt say I was any good at them though. Did think of recording a couple of monologues for youtube (is that what they call them?)

highwaymunky

My humble contribution from a blog posting a while ago.

I have a longing,
It is for the epic,
I long for mountains,
I need to conquer,
I ache for that freedom,
Me & the mountains,
I desire to climb,
I wish to suffer,
I want to overcome what most wouldn’t consider,
I will to push on, push through,
I yearn to be pitted against the elements, to bend nature to my will,
I miss the wild,
I wish to meet God on the mountain again,
I have a longing,
It is for the epic.

Kieran_Burns

Ummm.... I'm REALLY sorry to ask this as i don't want to sound like I'm fishing for compliments (even though essentially I AM) but did anyone actually think those efforts of mine were any good????

laughingboy

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Ummm.... I'm REALLY sorry to ask this as i don't want to sound like I'm fishing for compliments (even though essentially I AM) but did anyone actually think those efforts of mine were any good????

It depends how long you spent writing them!

They had a decent amount of energy about them and they were quite entertaining, but techinically, the metre was all over the place. I liked the apparel/barrel rhyme, but most of the other rhymes were a bit too easy to be really catch the ear. So, yes, they were quite good; but Simon Armitage isn't losing sleep.

This has been another potted critique brought to you by Poetry Consultants 'R' Us.

P.S. - Talking of Simon Armitage, his poem About Ladybower is about a mountain bike ride.

Kieran_Burns

Ummmm.... about 5 mins all told.

As said above - it's simply not my style of poetry, I was contriving too much and not just seeing where the words went.

laughingboy

Here's my effort - a paean to my bike tyres. Hope it's not too cringe-worthy:

C.U.G.S v The P*ncture Fairy

Fairies are tough these days, but one's
so fierce she'll slash and stab sheet rubber.
She scatters glass and gets her fun
from making cyclists quake and blubber.

They used to dare not speak her name,
pedalling away in fear forever,
then clever Germans changed the game
with tyres to thwart her worst endeavours.

Tyres that use a kevlar belt
to scatter thorns and drawing pins.
Tyres as sleek as Panther pelt -
those Conti Ultra Gator skins.

Yes, braking or taking bends at speed -
as tough and smooth as terrapins -
all the cyclist really needs
are Conti Ultra Gator skins.


P.S. - I realise that I am tempting fate big-style. I laugh in the face of fate. Maybe...