steve a. manolis poet

Leaning into You

 

It’s almost a hurting cold,

The air stings with a bite of fall

The sun, not quite up, has set the mountains a dark green

Against the back drop of a sad Seattle

So sharp is the contrast, as if a knife has cut its border

Rattle Snake Mountain looms, a quite giant

As I dive into the first curve, anticipating the beauty of sunrise

I am a little early for her this morning, or she a little late

Wanting to sleep in some more,

wanting the world to rest a few minutes longer,

but it is I that cannot wait any longer, I need to find you

nestled inside me, always calling, wanting me to come out to play.

 

The hurt goes away after the first curve,

and the second right behind disappears as I roll on the throttle

and head for the highway, searching for that speed and tranquility you bring.

in my mirrors I can see you peaking above the distant granite giants

I see you blossom in greenish blue, then turquoise and burned orange

Peeking above in the crevasse of the eastern pass

The color of the yoke of an egg burns my eyes yet I stare and watch you rise

And I flow into curves, sweeping me into your line time and time again.

 

Most of us are taught to straighten the curves, develop a line to follow

But I ignore those lessons, I want to be in your curves, your beauty

I want to lean into you long and hard and slow and forever

I want to lie against the nature of gravity, hold this machine through it

I want to trust the laws of nature and defy the laws of humanity

I want to feel the sweep carry me around the full body of you

And wake with you in my thoughts, and mine in yours

and feel you carry me forever in your heart, into your morning.