The sun poured herself across the lake,
a golden embrace I pedaled through,
my bike humming beneath me—
a steady rhythm, like a heartbeat,
or a sailboat cutting the water\'s edge.
The air smelled of pine and summer,
the shore whispering its rocky secrets,
and I was nowhere but there,
completely lost in the endless blue—
fingers of clouds combing the sky.
Then, out of nowhere, a bee arrived,
a daredevil with wings and no boundaries.
It zipped towards me with conviction,
right up my right nostril, as if invited.
I swerved, the world tilting and spinning.
Gravity grabbed me by the shoulders,
and I dove into the rocks, laughing,
though my skin kissed every jagged edge.
The bee buzzed wildly inside my skull,
an unwelcome houseguest overstaying its welcome.
But then, like a switch flipped,
I laughed harder, louder—
a siren of absurdity echoing aloud,
till the bee, startled by joy, shot outward,
a tiny bullet of freedom,
leaving me breathless and alive,
with my scraped knees grateful for the ground.