My Mother Told Me -- Bicycling

After the orphanage, at 16, but
Before the marriage, at 19,
My mother lived in Manhattan,
And she and my uncle, gamblers both,
Hoping for an extra nickle, and
Brash and youthful, would enter
The late ’30’s dance competitions.

I guess they never won, for if they
Had, my mother would have told
Me with pride, for she loved
To dance, and loved to win!
Watch out for the duel to the death
Scrabble game on a weekend outing.

So 16 or 17 or 18, seated on the handlebars
Of a bicycle my uncle secured — all his life
He had two wheeled riding machines —
She’d balance elated, as he pedal with
Fury through Manhattan streets to 
The next dance contest.  They’d likely not
Think them siblings

He dark, intense, on the border of brooding,
And she blonde and charming, and quick to
Friends.  I don’t recall ever seeing them dance 
Together, but knowing how he pedaled, and
Her grace, I’m sure they were a delight
To watch, even if they never won.

And she’d smile when she’d recount to me
The bicycles rides she took with her brother
Through the streets of Manhattan, when 
She was young and the world was hopeful,
And every gamble was a new adventure.

--On the occasion of my mother's 21st yahrzeit