Route 27....

Route 27

Late one night

I was out for a ride on the bike

on a long desert road called State Route 27.

The moon was full and bright.

Stars peppered the warm August sky.

The road was empty

and the night was asking

for a high speed run.

I decided to open it on up.

Let her go right to the edge.

Let her really breath.

I brought her up to around one thirty-five

and settled in for a ride long, fast and low.

The headlight shouted out brightly in front of me

and the engine wound out in a high pitched yell

as the white lines blinked quickly on by

silent and oh so fast.

My senses were as alert

as they could possibly get

and in spite of the darkness

every detail of the passing road

jumped out at my eyes.

I swear I could see

the gravel embedded in the rushing asphalt

and the barbs on the wire fence

at the side of the road.

Like so many times before,

I fell once again, in love with life,

the rapid beat of my heart.

and the quickness of my rolling breath.

Just then in my shimmering mirror

on the horizon behind me

I saw the headlight of another bike

coming up hard, coming up quick.

Ten seconds later

a slender figure on a dark blue chopper

blew by me like I was standing still.

I rolled the throttle wide open.

Pretty soon I was doing about one forty-three

but I couldn't catch her

and I watched her taillight

quickly become a distant dot on the road.

Right before it disappeared,

it looked like she pulled over,

I backed on down.

Before long I was coming up beside her.

I came to a stop

and shut off my bike.

--Figured I'd rest for awhile

and chat with the lady.

Leaning on on the seat of her ride

having a smoke

was a beautiful woman, maybe forty

with deep blue eyes and long dark hair.

She and her bike had kind of a glow about them.

Very subtle but bright at the same time.

Friendly but kind of mysterious.

Very quiet, kind of peaceful,

unquestionably kind.

I nodded hello, not knowing exactly what to say.

She nodded back and said

in a voice like a love song by Dido,

“Evening. Nice night for a drive.”

I looked back at her

and knew I had to wonder out loud.

I smiled as best I could and asked,

“Just who are you?”

She shrugged and said,

“Oh, they call me by lots of names.

You probably know me as 'I am,' or 'Alpha and Omega,'

or some of that other useless stuff humans like to say.

You all really need to learn

any word you want can mean everything

or nothing at all

as you so choose.

Why don't you call me 'Sparky,'

or 'Wiggles,' or 'Effy?'

That would suite me just fine.”

“You're God? Or maybe an Alien?” I asked.

She chuckled and said,

“I'll leave all that up to you.”

I looked at her confused.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Like you, I'm just out for a late night ride,” she smiled.

I still didn't know exactly who she was

but I did know she was someone very, very special.

“I've got so many questions...” I stammered,

“I don't know where to begin.”

“One of the really nice things about people” she said,

“Is that they are very curious creatures.

Always full of questions.”

“So what's the right point of view?

We have so many...” I asked.

“You know all those religions and philosophies

That people bicker over

and fight about all the time?” she said,

“Well they all have a few good ideas,

every one of them.

They all carry around a bunch of bullshit too.

And science is pretty much the same way.

People really need to learn to think

in a many-sided fashion

Instead of just bi-valently.

You can put that in your pipe and smoke it,” she smiled.

I thought about that for a minute

Then I asked,

“So what does the future hold?

People seem so messed up a lot of the time.”

She took a drag on her cigarette and said,

“You know, some guy once said

that the meek would inherit the earth.

Well, I've got some news for you

---they inherited it some time back.

But humanity is kind of a fixer-upper species

and change can happen only so fast

without making a big mess of everything.

Imagine the best of the 20's and 60's.

Imagine the golden ages of music

and the intellectual leaps forward

during the Renaissance.

These are previews of things to come.

But humans have a ways to go.

You've got to get it through

your thick, Cro-Magnon heads

that every time you disagree

it's not good to start killing each other.

And you've got to learn to make governments

that don't attract power mongers quite so fast.

It's also important to learn to make companies

that have a conscience

and a genuine sense of human decency.

And you humans really need to learn

to share a lot better.

“I said, “Geeze, we sound like bratty children.”

She chuckled, “Well, Homo sapiens

Is a pretty young species.

If all humanity were a single person

you'd be around twelve years old, by my reckoning.

So you see, you're just starting to grow up a bit.

Far in the future, when you're much older

you humans will have great adventures

and do great things, if you ask me.

She took a drag on her smoke, then continued,

“I have to tell you,

there will always be some inequalities

because that's the only way to build a world

in which you can strive.

But one day people will seek to better their spirit

with the same enthusiasm

that today they use to build better guns

and make more money.

There will also always be people better and worse

because that's the only way to make a world

where those who need to can learn to improve.

But one day the worst of men

will be as kind than the most generous human

of your time.

One day men will fight their personal ignorance

and fear of their own inner beauty

with the same determination

they use to fight each other today.

All this might sound kind of strange

considering the way humans are right now

but you can make this future

a reality one day for all mankind

by making it a reality for yourself today.

For humans, improvement happens

From the bottom up and from the inside out

One person at a time.

Now, don't think of being a good man

like it means you gotta be

all pansy and syrupy sweet.

One day humans will be kind of like

the good-bad guys of the universe.

They'll have kind dispositions

and big hearts

but with a lot of edge

like a good rock and roll song.

But humans need to realize

that the most powerful things in life

don't always end up fighting each other.

You all have the bad habit

of often thinking the greatest tests in life

involve war and fighting and killing each other

when the biggest challenge a human can face

is learning how to love better.

Effy took one last drag off her cigarette.

She glanced at it and said,

“Did I bother to mention

you really need to get off peoples asses

about smoking these things.

it's really not worse than overeating.”

Then she smiled and said,

“Damn! Enough talking. Lets take a ride.”

She got on her bike and cranked it on up.

I could see the sky move a bit when it started.

I got on my bike

and hit the button to light the tubes.

Effy waited as the ground shook

with every thump of her engine.

Then we pulled out onto Route 27

and pretty soon we were doing around one twenty-five.

We rode beside each other till almost dawn.

Just as the sun broke the skyline,

I felt kindness and compassion wash over me

along with a dose of 'Fuck a fine mess' too.

Then Effy down shifted

and gave me a thumbs-up.

About ten seconds later all I could see of her

was a tiny red taillight fading into the horizon.

But I'll tell you, as the night had rolled on

with us riding side by side

I knew what it was to feel joy. 

Dewey Dirks---copyright 2009