Luchtfietser [Daydreamer]
Luchtfietser [Daydreamer]
By Robert Perry
My secondhand bicycle is stashed away
in the back of my cousin's garage
waiting for my return
It calls to me like a noble steed
This magical bike that wants to take me
into town again, into the countryside and the city
turn me into a citizen of the realm
The land I admire—my teacher and my friend
who indulges me the impossible proposition
that I be considered one of them
Ride down narrow streets against the wind
watch the trains of blue & yellow pass before me
shop at Ekoplaza, wander through the heather
I‘ve been told: autumn is what’s needed
to get through to the winter
Now it’s spring and I’m stuck indoors
I cannot return, not for a while
I’m not sure when
the world won’t let us travel
except in a daydream
cycling through the clouds
Making us into poets
drifting around the room
left to stare out the window all day
and sing through the night
After feeding the cat
I lie beside her
dreaming in the dark
I awaken to another day
and measure time
in tinctures of minutes
filling up the hours
I count the days that accumulate
into weeks, maybe even months
A pool of longing
brimming with expectation I try
to manage like medicine
into hopeful doses to be content
in my confinement
To no avail until I learn
how to keep my yearning in check
and let my attachments pedal
away into the ether
Robert Perry is a poet and translator, book artist and designer, and founder of Dutch Poet Press that publishes poetry and art books including translations of contemporary Dutch poetry. His work has appeared in literary journals and the anthology Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here (PM Press, 2012). He lives and works in Northern California. For more information, visit dutchpoetpress.com and robertperrybookdesign.com.
The Dutch version of Luchtfietser [Daydreamer] was published on the website Coronagedicht.nl in 2020 and in the anthology De overbuurvrouw is een meeuw by Uitgeverij Liverse in 2021.