THE FACE OF THE RIDE

On an evening when nights are cool

Reclined on my couch, a place I inhabit

When summer evenings dance with the sun

The lingering days deliver my body to heal

As music, the TV at such times reveal

The summaries of salient news to report

Then II Aids in Africa kill ten million children"

It's a moral issue we must now comprehend

At a liturgy St. Joan's delivered

The Aids Ride the Oz Team supports

The Aids Ride should provide provision and purpose

To heighten the sensitive chords which tie us

For there are those who suffer still living in chaos.

Hesitantly I decided well I would join

The body of humans with faith and desire

With dedication to enter the baptism of fire

There's a plague out there, surely it matters.

The road contoured, steep elevations abide

With rugged curves, contemptuous heat

A cruel, severe terrain with pot holes concealing danger

Mile after mile, challenge the riders to an arduous feat

The smell of victory cloaked in defeat

Black Ice am I, the ride I closely witnessed

A measure of 500 miles, a test of physical fitness.

I saw its face consumed in an array

Of emotions ever so present on display

I saw the ride, the face of pain.

Even as pleasure appeared so soft a rain

I saw its visage caress deep distress

As happiness calmly cradled it to rest

The iron clad mask seemed sheer emptiness

Soon buoyed by laughter and playfulness.

The eyes once closed to the vision saw

The miracles of the ride brought to the cure.

I saw a thousand wheelers on the road

Each with a baggage of seeds to be sowed

I touched the face of the Heartland Ride

And heard its stories sitting side by side.

I held the hand of a face filled with joy...

Pearls of pleasure its cheeks employed.

And iced hot bodies, both arms embraced

Fatigue dispelled with energy replace.

The wind whistled with moist heavy heat

Bringing songs to brave riders suggesting defeat

But the pit stop, how thankful the ride regresses

They stop and take delight in a pause that refreshes

That volunteer staff leveling all recesses

From heat, to muscle, bad back a headache.

The volunteer staff brought relief and kept safe

The spirit, the body and the whole

No matter how, who or what you feel

The staff returns the rider on his wheel

And, yes, safety the key to this sacred cause

Transcends the beauty, the ride and its laws.

 And meshed within this fabric, a design

To bring to the world a better humankind.

We must make the world a better place

Let's plant peace, a seed of kindness

And cultivate a new mankind in every culture and race.