Poetry Friday: The Rider


What a wonderful community! Thank you for welcoming me last week. I returned!

Today I am sharing Naomi Shihab Nye's poem, "The Rider." 

The Rider

Naomi Shihab Nye


A boy told me 
if he roller-skated fast enough
his loneliness couldn't catch up to him,

the best reason I ever heard
for trying to be a champion.

What I wonder tonight
pedaling down King William Street
is if it translates to bicycles

A victory! To leave your loneliness
panting behind you on some street corner
while you float free into a cloud of azaleas,
pink petals that have never felt loneliness,
no matter how slowly they fell.

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