Daredevil Jr.

At five years old - and only having just learned how to ride

His two-wheel bike without a training wheel on either side -

He sat astride his shiny Schwinn, his gaze fixed on the hill -

A steep descent on graveled path - and summoned up his will

His little boy bravado, unchecked by common sense

Or painful lessons dearly learned from past experience

No parent there to intervene, no sibling to decry

His tempting fate and safety where such daunting hazards lie

But only in his mind the thrill of pushing off the summit

And pedaling with all his might, straight down the hill to plummet

Like flying! Yes, indeed! Take wing, and feel the rush within!

The five-year-old, so brave and bold, set sail upon his Schwinn

He pedaled once or twice and then, o’ertook by gravity,

His legs could pump no faster in a free-fall downhill spree,

His baseball cap blew off; his watering eyes went wide in panic

His trembling hands, white-knuckle gripped; his agitation manic

Along the gravel path, the trees appeared as only blur

As faster, ever faster, toward the crash that must occur

For now, a realization - when he ventured from the top

His thoughts were all of speed; he never reckoned how to stop!

Alas, it was a biggish rock along the pebbled strip

That jarred the handlebars and ripped them from his panicked grip

Askew, the wheel in front dug in, and o’er the bike did sail

The boy slid, scraping skin and bone along the rocky shale

In tears, and with his mangled Schwinn, he limped and whimpered home

Where Mother, horror-stricken! sprayed a disinfectant foam

On bloodied, bruised and ragged skin on elbows, hands and knees

Then dried his tears and kissed his brow; her hug, a gentle squeeze

She tucked him into bed and read his favorite bedtime story,

Then clicked the light, and said goodnight, and told him not to worry

His bike was not beyond repair, she’d fix it soon enough

“Yippee!” he thought, then dreamed of doing more daredevil stuff.

[previously published, The Lit Nerds, April 21, 2025]