VIEW FROM THE PILLION - SLOVENIA

 

From my seat, behind the rider

I have a panoramic view.
A landscape rich with fields, neat farms;
trees brimming with red ripening apples,
like Christmas ornaments.
 
Tiny chapels and tall crucifixes
stand guard along the route.
Like a motion picture, the scenery flows by
along the road with sweeping curves.
 
Powering smoothly up a mountain pass
to views of vineyards, carved into hills,
stepping down the sides of valleys;
grapes ready for the picking.
 
Past hamlets with flowerboxes
spilling over with geraniums,
fields dotted with orange pumpkins,
corn bursting with yellow kernels.
 
The blue sky, kissed by the sun,
sprinkled with rain, makes the perfect green.
That’s the colour of the hills and valleys.
That is the green of Slovenia.
 
Leaning into the corners,
I breathe in fresh country smells;
cut grass, manure, chicken coops
and fragrant forest aromas.
And I am refreshed.

First prize winner for the Ladies Biker Poetry Contest in the Toronto International Spring Motorcycle Show, 2023