This month, Molly challenged the Inklings to “Write a love note to something or someone or some place. Go big or go small!” She gave us several suggestions to use as mentor poems and shared that her real motivation was to “look at the world through a lens of love.”

There are so many things in this world that I love: my family, trees, birds, books, knitting. The list is long (how lucky am I?) I even considered writing about the kitchen table! (I will come back to this idea soon.) In the end, though, time ran out and I found myself searching my notebook for anything that filled the bill. This poem, written last summer, isn’t exactly a love note, but I sure did love this bike.

A New Bike

I stumble off the bus into another summer 
confined to our dusty driveway 
on my rusty red bicycle.

Suddenly, I see a shiny new bike waiting. 
I scream with joy, drop everything and run.

“You’re old enough to ride on the road.”
Mom’s words echo as I hop onto the silver seat
and pedal away.

Smooth asphalt glides beneath me.
I’m a blur of sparkly green paint,
blending into the kaleidoscope of
summer leaves.

Streamers – a rainbow of red, yellow,
blue – fly out from the handlebars
like a flag, proclaiming my independence.

This bike and I are going places.

© Catherine Flynn, 2025

Margaret Simon has the Round Up today at Reflections on the Teche. After you read her love note to silence, visit my fellow Inklings to read their love notes.

Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda @ A Word Edgewise
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone
(Mary Lee is on a brief hiatus)