Velocipede

New from Laura Madeline Wiseman is this stunningly crafted memoir in verse about a ride, “Your first bike was a hot pink Schwinn with a banana seat, a basket with flowers, yellow tassels fluttering....” If you follow Wiseman on social media, you know she is a longdistance cyclist and participates in multi-day bike rides such as RAGBRAI, which stretches across Iowa and annually attracts 20,000 cyclists. Velocipede recounts her first long-distance ride, including the award winning poem “Roadside Kiddie Pool,” which won the 2015 Beecher’s Award in Poetry. Roadside Kiddie Pools—“Not toddlers in plastic pants snug above their fat thighs. Not girls in pink gingham two pieces and broad hats held in place by string and knot. Not bucket and shovel. Not starfish-shaped sifter or naked baby doll that pees. Not pale, mottled ankles or the aluminum of chair legs. Not wine bottles. No Bud Light, Busch, or Miller. Not PBR in cans. Not baseball bat or beach ball. Not blue waves that catch and cup, ripple and splash afternoon sun. Not a scrim of dirt under a sheen of tannin. Not snowdrift melt, flecked with leaves. Not cracked. Not covered in aliens, rocket ships, or moons. Not yard sale. Not trash treasure. But full of water bottles, sports drinks, ice glittering and not free, but almost—donation is all.”