Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/oZUT7x06YvY) 05.03.2023.
TRAINING WHEELS OFF
Slow canter:
me behind,
you hunched over the bars,
fearless.
I hesitate, then let go.
One chubby leg extends:
toe lightly touches ground, just once,
balance regained.
One last wee wobble,
then you’re away
into the world
you now own.
About the Author: P.W. Bridgman’s third and fourth books— Idiolect (poetry) and The Four-Faced Liar (short fiction)—were published in 2021 by Ekstasis Editions. His writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in, among others, The Moth Magazine, The Honest Ulsterman, The Galway Review, The High Window, The Antigonish Review, LitroUK, LitroNY,The Glasgow Review of Books, Grain, The Maynard, and Skylight 47. Bridgman has given live readings in Vancouver, Victoria, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and Melbourne. Visit him at www.pwbridgman.ca or follow him on Twitter via @PWB_writer1.
