Puff of Smoke/A Parents’ Perspective

 He was one of fifteen motorcycles

To race six laps around the twenty-turn course.

At lap number six he led the final charge.

There was no doubt first place was his.

Through squinted eyes we had indeed

Seen him enter that final turn.

But then for one and all to see

There was that puff of smoke.

Our hearts did take a temporary flutter,

For we had hoped that rider would be OK.

Still, my wife and I surveyed the track

Certain, we were, our son would finish first.

Our son had ridden so self-assured.

He had practiced so very hard.

And we were surely confident

His first victory we were to see.

But all the bikes, ‘cept for one,

crossed the line in front of us.

We did not see his mighty steed

Perhaps, we thought, an untimely blink we had.

No alarm arose for us

Because our son beyond a doubt

Was the one we all would see

Atop the race’s podium.

But our triumphant feelings soon turned unsettling

When someone else’s name was called as winner.

Could he have been that puff of smoke?

Our son had still not yet appeared to us.

To that final curve, our focus did return.

We could see but not identify

The warrior and his broken steed

Patiently waiting in the disheartening sand.  

The emergency vehicle arrived on scene

To check the status of warrior and steed.

They loaded both onto the pick-up’s bed

And off the track they turned.

That noble warrior’s name

Had not been spoken yet

Could it be? Could it really be?

It was our son’s name not spoken of?

Our hearts were sinking.

Our thoughts were reeling.

Then suddenly, from behind our backs, our son appeared.

His face was smiling from ear to ear.

That puff of smoke, he revealed to us,

Was absolutely his undoing.

He over corrected on that final turn.

But “Hey” he said, “I walked away unhurt”.

That was the first of more to come

Puffs of smoke we were to see.

And with persistence, dedication, and love of sport.

Many podium visits did come his way.