Cycles

Preface

This isn't meant to be a quiz,

But do you know what a unicycle is?

--A unicycle is like a trike;

Or, to be more precise, it's like a bike!

But to tell you exactly what it's like, I'll

Have to say, "Like a unicycle!"

When Michael was just a little tyke,

He rode all over upon his trike --

A tricycle has exactly three wheels,

And you probably know just how riding one feels.

But as Michael grew older, he also grew bolder;

And soon he took a new task to shoulder. --

From three wheels, he went down to two.

If you haven't already, you soon will too!

Then, Michael got even bolder yet.

(How much bolder could he get?)

Since riding on two wheels was so much fun,

Michael decided to ride on...

                                                          ...one!

--A unicycle!

Cycles

So Michael got a unicycle that he rode all through the day;

And the wheel went around,

                                              and around,

                                                                     and around

In the usual wheel-like way.

He rode it up hills, and he rode it down.

He rode in the country and into the town.

He rode in straight lines and those that squiggled.

He rode on smooth roads and those that jiggled.

And every path that Michael took.

People would stop for another look:

"There goes Michael on only one wheel!"

(Michael thought it was no big deal.)

"He had a tricycle, but three wheels were no fun.

"He tried a bicycle with two wheels, but none

"Of these were quite right, till he tried with just one!

"So he got a unicycle -- look at it run!"

"Look, there goes Michael!" people would say.

And his wheel went around in a wheel-like way....

...Until, one day, it developed a lump;

And when the wheel went around, the seat went bump!

The lump, then the bump --

Ca-lump -- Ca-bump!

It made it all very hard to ride,

With the lump on the wheel and the bump besides;

For the wheel'd hit the lump,

And the seat would go bump,

And Michael would land on his seat

With a thump!

Ca-lump! Ca-bump! Ca-thump!

Poor Michael couldn't seem to keep on his feet --

Poor Michael, poor Michael,

And poor Michael's seat!

Ca-lump! Ca-bump!

"There's only one lump,"

Michael thought on the way down;

Ca-bump! Ca-thump!

"But it hits every time the wheel goes around!"

Michael got to his feet,

Put the cycle to his seat;

Then the wheel wet ca-lump,

And the seat went ca-bump,

And Michael ca-thumped to the ground with a clunk

On his head!

"Is he dead!?" cried the breeze to the trees;

But Michael could feel himself climb to his knees.

"He's alive!" called the birds. "He can walk! He can run!"

"He can fly!" screamed the winds. "He can fly to the sun!"

And just then a gust came up and blew

Michael through the air. (I trust this is true.

For this is what Michael claims to this date

Made him stay gone so long and get home so late.)

"He can fly!" screamed the winds. "He can fly to the sun!"

Michael thought to himself, "I can run, I can jump.

"But why can I fly?" And his mind went ca-thump!

Ca-lump!

                            Ca-bump!

                                                          Ca-thump!

"Ca-lump!" said the Sun. And Michael said, "What?!"

"Ca-bump!" said the Sun. "And for that matter, ca-thump!"

"You sound like my cycle." Michael said to the Sun.

"You sound like my cycle; you certainly do!"

"Well, I'm part of a cycle," the old Sun said;

"The day is a cycle; it's certainly true! --

"See the earth down there slowly turn?

"The light I make as I burn

"Will make your town bright when it faces me,

"And when it turns away, night replaces me.

"Day into night, night into day,

"Facing the sun and facing away.

"From the Earth, it seems I rise with the dawn."

(Said Michael, "I always rise with a yawn!")

"Ca-lump! And it's morning.

"Ca-bump! And it's noon.

"Ca-thump! And it's evening

"(And none too soon).

"You all have to sleep throughout the night

"To rise again with the morning's light.

"It's a cycle, you see, a cycle of light.

"From night into day, from day into night;

"Around and around and around we go..."

But Michael felt dizzy and called out: "No! No!"

Ca-lump. Ca-bump. And... ca-thump!

Now the gust came again -- as big gusts do --

The gust came again. . . (I trust this is true,

For this is what Michael claims to this date

Made him stay gone so long and get home so late.)

. . .The gust came again, and he flew through the sky

To a branch in a tree next a big butterfly.

Ca-lump!

                            Ca-bump!

                                                          Ca-thump!

"Ca-lump!" said the butterfly; and Michael said, "What?!"

"Ca-bump!" said the butterfly. "And for that matter, Ca-thump!"

"You sound like my cycle; you certainly do."

"Well, I'm part of a cycle; it's certainly true!

"See those dots over there? I laid them. They're eggs.

"This fall, they will hatch; and then they'll have legs."

"Like caterpillars?" asked Michael. "Will they form a cocoon?"

"A chrysalis," she corrected. "And none too soon--

"For the winter will come, and things will grow cold:

"But they will grow beautiful, before they grow old."

"Like you!" said Michael, who was quick to please.

"Exactly!" said the butterfly; then she breathed a wheeze:

"Ca-lump. I'm an egg! Ca-bump, a caterpillar,

"That forms a chrysalis. Now, here comes the thriller! --

"Like an orchestra bursts into a beautiful tune,

"Ca-thump! I'm a beauty off to the moon----!

"A cycle, it is, around and around..."

But Michael now felt he was falling

                                                          d

                                                             o

                                                                w

                                                                    n

                                                                        .

                                                                            .

                                                                                .

                                                                                    .

Ca-lump!

                            Ca-bump!

                                                          Ca-thump!

"Ca-lump!" coughed a voice. And Michael said, "What?!"

"Ca-bump!" coughed the voice. "And for that matter. Ca-thump!"

"You sound like my cycle; but you're cold. like the snow."

"Well, of course! -- Winter's part of a cycle, you know."

"You mean you are winter?" "Do I look like Spring?

"Are there flowers in my hair? Can you hear birds sing?"

"I'm freezing," said Michael; "it's terribly cold."

"Don't worry," said Winter; "I'm growing old,

"And Spring's on its way, then Summer, then Fall."

"And that's the full cycle?" "But I'm best of all------"

Ca-lump! Ca-bump! Ca-thump!

And Spring called, "Around--!" And Summer, "Around--!"

And Fall, "Around and around you go--!"

And Michael cried out, "I'm hot! I'm cold!

There's rain, there's hail, there's sleet, there's snow!"

Ca-lump!

                            Ca-bump!

                                                          Ca-thump!

"Is he dead?" cried the breeze. "Is he dead as he seems?"

But Michael kept dreaming strange, cycle-like dreams.

Ca-lump, and it's midnight. Then the clock struck one,

Then two-three-four, and before it was done --

Five-six! Seven-eight! Nine-ten! And soon

After eleven -- ca-thump! -- it was noon!

Then it started all over -- a strange sound and sight --

Ca-lump and ca-bump and ca-thump till midnight!

And then came the gust! And away the clock flew!

(Or at least I trust I can say this is true;

For this is what Michael claims to this date

Made him stay gone so long and get home so late.)

Ca-lump! Ca-bump! Ca-thump!

He saw weird faces with cycle-like heads.

Ca-lump, they were babies asleep in their beds.

Ca-bump, they were children (much like him).

Then ca-thump, they were grown-ups with babies again!

And the babies laughed, and the babies cried.

And the breeze called out: "Will he live?! Has he died?!"

Ca-lump -- ca-bump -- ca-thump!

Ca-lump -- ca-bump -- ca-thump!

The cycles were going around and around --

Noise into quiet, quiet into sound --

Summers to falls to winters to springs --

Eggs into caterpillars, chrysalises to wings --

Babies to children and then parents, too --

Snow into rain, and rain into dew --

Night into day, day into night --

Light into darkness, darkness to light.

And the breeze moaned out with all it could give:

"Has he died? Has he died? Will he live? Will he live?"

And Michael's unicycle started to spin

Around and around, till it fell

                                                        over

                                                                         him!

Ca-lump!

                            Ca-bump!

                                                          Ca-thump!

In a swirl of dust, Michael came to....

(Or at least I trust I can say this is true;

For this is what Michael claims to this date

Made him stay out so long and get home so late.)

...And there was his cycle, sitting on him

(Which was not, as he remembered, the way to begin!)

With a hole in the tire where the lump had been,

And the wheel going 'round and around in a spin.

And he carried it home and told me all this

And had his wounds healed with a comforting kiss.

His mother was angry; she'd been in a state,

With him gone so long and home so late;

But I winked at my boy and cooed to my wife,

"I think he's been learning the cycle of life!"

And the cycle will work,

As long as there's air;

And the wheel will still turn

When nobody's there! . . .

Ca-lump.

                            Ca-bump...

                                                                                Ca-thump.