BIKING SHANGHAI
Tour de Puxi Night Stage
Adrenalin pistons my legs
as we surge into the dense sweaty night
a fifty strong throng
of unruly, liberated
don’t give a dam cyclists
intent on claiming the streets
for a brief heady moment
We blur past a monochrome
concrete landscape
neon bejewelled, its music
the dun sound of engines and wheels
chorussed by random horns
Around me riders pass, fall back
weave into slender spaces
chat, smile, touch fists
encourage each other
signal hazards
hold up traffic for the pack
in an unspoken camaraderie
spun by twin wheels
A water stop crowds the pavement
outside a store
smiles, sweat dripping
stories told, names exchanged
moments of silence
a couple passing ask what and why
Then on again into the sodium lit night
contracting, puffing, stretching like
a cloud of starlings
approximating their wheeling freedom
on streets built for chaotic order
On to the Bund
in a forbidden flypast
a disrespectful nod
to the city’s sombre monuments
of a distant age
We end in a tired gaggle at a bridge
and a long-bearded old man
squeals his bike to a juddering halt
to wave in a smile
and take cheering applause from us
Pushing wearily home alone
along silent, shadowy streets
my heart still beats with the
pedal pumping, wheel whirring energy that fuels
my happy bed-seeking soul
