Between prose & poetry: New Castle musings | Coveting (#Poetry Monday*)

On a borrowed bike in an unfamiliar part of town
I turned a corner just as the sun turned off.
In the sudden darkness nothing was familiar.
My sense of direction and locus was lost
replaced by icy panic filling my veins. My heart beat fast,
my feet pedaled faster as blindly, feverishly I tried one street
after another. I turned and turned and turned and
by happenstance found the street where I’d started from.
The street where the house of my Dad’s work acquaintances lived.
Where we had come for dinner. Where they had one, or was it two,
kids around my age, and a bike I coveted and wanted to try out.
Our car was parked on the street in front. My heart settling,
coming closer, familiar chatting voices became clear.
They were all calmly waiting for me on the porch.
All I longed for from that moment was the visit to end
so I could truly be home, tucked into the familiar
and secure sheets of my own bed in my own room
once more. But I still wanted that bike.

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* It’s PoMo! To learn about PoMo (POetry MOnday), click here. We learned the 10 Commandments in Sunday school and knew what coveting was. Or at least we had the information describing what coveting was. Still, when you're young, wanting what someone else had seems to be the norm. Seeing what our friends had, trying their stuff out, was how you built your own birthday and Christmas wishlists. “But Mom! Billy has one and it's so cool! I have to have one, too!” Was this similar to your experience? Do you have kids now? How do you help them understand the dangers of coveting? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Note: I put the graphic and poetry quote at the bottom to preserve the line length of the poem. You may need to open your browser to the full width of your screen to ensure there are no line breaks.