I wonder if you know what it’s like to ride,
You and freedom side by side.
The joy, the rush, the wind in your hair,
The looks of people as they all stare.
The children all wave and smile with delight,
Their parents roll up the windows and lock the doors at the light.
Some gaze upon me with envy,
Knowing all along they can never be me.
The thing that makes me feel most alive,
That makes my heart beat, my soul to thrive,
Could just as easy, on any given day,
Take this simple life of mine away.
So I wonder if you know what it’s like to ride,
You and freedom, side by side.
To shatter the night with a thump and a roar,
That calms my existence like never before.
This thing that makes me feel most alive,
That makes my heart beat, my soul to survive.
I think back to that day,
When fate had its way.
But still I ride though less now it seems,
More often than not on highways of dreams.
With “a watchful eye to the rear” in the mirror,
Not to let anyone ever get too near.
I wonder if you know what it’s like to ride,
You and freedom, side by side.
That thing that once made me feel most alive,
Has somehow killed me deep inside.
My will to ride is less than before,
But it’s still there and I cannot ignore.
This urge to ride, to take out in flight,
One lone light piercing the night.
The corners, the hills, on the road to myself,
I search the wind for my own mental health.
But I know one day at the end of the road,
As the last chapter is written and is finally told,
With a pat on the back, a wink and a nod,
I’ll ride in peace to go with God.

Rick Pickering 1999

Return to Main Contributions Page