It was my tenth Christmas
I wanted a bike so bad for Christmas
My Mom told me we could not afford a new bike
But Mom and dad would try to get a used bike for me
Christmas Eve I saw a key hanging on the Christmas tree
With a string tied to it
I kept eying the key until all the presents were opened
My Dad said you have to roll the string up on this
And handed me a 2 foot long stick
I rolled up all the string, three and 1/2 long blocks
As I rounded the second block I saw a bike in a service station window
But the door was around the corner, a block and 1/2 away
I started to run
My Dad stopped me and said you have to roll up the rest of the
String
With a big sigh I did
When I got to the bioke, it was not a used bike
It was a brand new Schwinn!
The Cadillac of bikes, it had a horn and a headlight
I rode the bike all the way home
It felt like I was flying!!!
I was the happiest kid in the world!!!
From birth Ike (Ike Eikanger) has had no left forebrain. As he writes in his book A JOURNEY FROM ILLITERACY TO POETRY, "I was born paralyzed on my right side from my eye to my toes. The paralyzation was caused by brain damage. It has been a long and hard journey. Over the years, so many people, including my mother and stepfather, said I couldn't, shouldn't do 'IT' and I proved them wrong. I could not read nor write. I started to read and write when I was 54. But over the years I have had two tutors, Ted and Helen, through the public library system's Project Second Chance. They have helped me find the talent I had buried inside me. I am now writing short stories and poetry.
ReplyDelete" Here is one of his poems:
READING
In 54 years of marriage and a lifetime of illiteracy
My wife never asked me to read anything
She always read to me
One day last week she was reading in the car
While I went in the store
When I came out of the store and got in the car
For the first time in 54 years
My wife said read this article
And so for the first time in my life
I did!
(In terms of the directness and honesty of his poetic expression, Ike reminds me a lot of Charles Bukowski -- except that Ike is sweet while Bukowsky is cynical.)