late night bicycle rides...

late night bicycle rides cruising by the lake to the click click click clack of my bicycle chain. my gears need to be fixed. but love is love even with rusted chains and the occasional disconnect. the push the pull the odd gear shift, i fly over soft blacktop and bump along the cracked asphalt as starlings ascend and dive over the lake. porch lights, lantern lights, candle lights, christmas lights so many lights welcoming me home. so many homes with open windows. i adore looking in... i see stacks of books so tall and unwieldy they are works of art, sculptures. kid art hanging over fireplaces, tables set, all signs of loving families or at least signs of life as i imagine it to be, as i want it to be. you know the dream. traveling at top speeds, in a blur, some dreams are real.
ukiyo-e.* a man sits reading on his porch. a woman walks her dog. a candle burns and warms the air. i take a deep breath and peddle faster, oh man... i am so in love with this time.

*In Asai Ryōi's 17th-century novel, Ukiyo monogatari (Tales of the Floating World), "ukiyo-e" is defined as: 'Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current; this is what we call the floating world.'