Big Old Dawg by Peter V. Dugan

sleeping outside the bar
an old chromed knucklehead engine
on a hard-tail frame
lies low to the ground

chopped, raked & stretched
with an over-extended
springer front end
the dog bone risers hold
the broomstick handle bars
in place

the suicide stick converted
to a chromed mouse trap shift
hides its age
while the black & silver metal
flake paint
of the teardrop gas tank
glows in the street light

master slides
onto the teaspoon saddle
pumps, primes & kicks
the motor over
it roars awake
settles into a loud idle growl
from the black chrome drag pipes
& with a sharp snapping bark
it pounces on the pavement
& howls into the night
left behind where it was parked
a small oil stain lies on the street

it’s not a leak
it’s just the bike
marking its turf.

Peter V. Dugan is the current Nassau County Poet Laureate, NY (2017-19).  He has published six collections of poetry and co-edited Long Island Sounds 2015 and Writing Outside the Lines poetry anthologies. He has received Honorable Mention from the American Academy of Poetry, LI Bards Poet Mentor Award by the Bards Initiative and he has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize. Mr. Dugan also hosts a reading series, Celebrate Poetry at the Oceanside Library, Oceanside NY, an open mic for teens and college student, It’s poetry, baby! at Sip This Café in Valley Stream NY and a reading series, Paumanok Pirate Poets, at Starbuck’s Long Beach NY.