Four girls’ - side by side, cycling:
Swapping stories from their day
Baskets brimmed with books and bags.
An April breeze brushes their cheeks;
ruffles their navy skirts’
Dipping down ditches, dirt, dashing socks.
Laughter lifts them up from their saddles; shoes scuff
at stop signs, jutting corners, stones ping against
spokes.
Silence, as they approach home
The droning of bicycle lamps, drowned by dead pedals.
Dawdling to their doors, heaving holdalls.
They say goodnight, stepping inside their houses:
Hoping to sleep, parents pester.
Plonking themselves down
as they finger their books.