VERMONT SLUSH

October Vermont biking offers it all–
Bewitching cauldron of color on hills, cerulean
Sky with snowy clouds above whirlpooling
Essence of crystal and sunshine and air, spun-gold.

Just to breathe is joy. But the clouds turn black,
The wind reverses, the rain in torrents descends
In autumn monsoon. The blithe illusion ends.
It’s tricky pedaling on the highway track

Between farmyard and field, slopping and slewing
In the slurry of bovine fecal slime. Through three
Hazards my bike and I speed and I think we’re free
Of assaulting trucks and vans, but mired in glue

We fatefully meet a rushing ten-wheeler, whooshinq
A green tsunami engu1fing us in slush.

(34, July 17, 1992)

Comments

On a bicycle feet fly above the ground and you feel isolated. The world above ground is very very close. All your your senses are involved, nothing is automatic. Maybe that is part of a bird’s experience.

A part of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” explores that same isolation and connection.

[John Alvord 12/19/2025]