This poem was inspired by my ten-year-old son’s interest in a dirt bike. I was struck by his desire to pull away, to become the agent of his movement, to explore unaccompanied. I saw a connection between the conveyance and the conveyor. The way his bike dominated the terrain echoed the way he stepped into young adulthood; the awkwardness of fitting the bike into our trunk echoed his pre-teen awkwardness. Finally, I felt the heft of not being able to protect both the bike— and my son.
Candice Kelsey teaches writing in the South. Her poetry appears in Poets Reading the News and Poet Lore among other journals, and her first collection, Still I am Pushing, explores mother-daughter relationships as well as toxic body messages. She won the 2019 Two Sisters Writing's Contest and was recently nominated for both a Best of the Net and a Pushcart. Find her at www.candicemkelseypoet.com
