For Peter Eibeck

Wisdom is knowing when to let go without hurting,
when to hold on without holding someone back.
I see my friend, Peter, guiding David, his third child,
who sits atop his bike like someone on the tip
of a cliff enjoying the view but sensing danger
in the distance down. And, in the early spring Sunday
sunshine, Peter, who has done all this before
with Daniel and Josh, runs alongside David holding
the seat, keeping him steady as the wheels wiggle
back and forth on the pavement, wobbling so much
David would surely hit the street if not for Peter’s
loving hand behind him. But no one grows without
a bit of risk so Peter lets his son search
for balance by finding for himself which is
too much to the left, too much to the right, until
David, whose smile belongs in a museum, begins
to find his center. By June, David will be zooming
past houses with his brothers and all the kids
who bless our block with young life. And little sister,
Elaina, will be waiting in the wings for her turn
to join the two-wheeled propulsion of her brothers.
In another spring Peter will, once again, hold his child
on a bicycle until she can move away on her own,
keeping her balance for the road that lies ahead.

From Dedications, Volume II: More Poems for Special People (2017).
Used with the author’s permission.