911 Baltimore Avenue
A young black boy
on his mini BMX
waves at an old white man
sitting on his stoop.
Aiming to impress
The boy pedals fast
into shadows
on the sidewalk.
He pulls up on
the handle bars
the front wheel clipping the lip
of a crack
in the neighbor’s sidewalk
uprooted
by a Sugar Maple root
sixty some years ago.
He pulls up again
the back wheel
clips the lip of the crack
launching him airborne
into the wake of his inward eye
where both tires clip
the coping of a fifteen foot ramp,
throwing him
into the evening sky
suspended in grand allégro
and worlds
further abroad.
Collectively both tires
clear to the other side
of the cracked sidewalk.
Loungin’
on his stoop,
the man smiles as the boy continues
pedaling down the block
out of sight,
as if he were exiting stage left.
"911 Baltimore Avenue" was a finalist in University of Delaware's 1st UD Department of English: Random Acts of Poetry in 2014.
Also published March 4, 2015 (modified) in -- The City Key Click Here