Chasing Freedom

Flyin’ without leavin’ the earth ! Original DDE™  art: “Road Rocket” by: rob kistner © 11/11/25

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twistin’ the throttle

rocketin’ two-wheeled through the Cascades

rippin’ it west to the Pacific

the 4-stroke’s heartbeat syncs with my own

 

ahead on my left

I see an opening in the forest

 

beyond is sunlight

and the sound of something very powerful—

a foundational-movin’-the world kinda power

promising otherworldly adventure

 

the road ahead forks

giving me options—

journeying deeper into this enchanted wood

or seeking that other promising mystery

 

in that moment — I am seduced

 

a raw rolling rhythm carries me onwards

charging towards that woodland heaven’s gate

the rumble of horsepower between my legs

 

I dive into a lefthand turn

inner knee out and low

just inches above the road

the other tight to the tank

wind screaming past

like laughter from the gods—

 

and when I rise out of my lean

the light explodes—

 

sun flashing through conifer branches

like a thousand diamonds

scattered across the day

 

the road winds — twisted and wild

snaking through mist

moss

old growth

and ancient mountain stone

 

every bend a thrill

a breath held

then expelled in a heady rush

 

I feel it in my bones—

that wild whisper of freedom

the bite of cool heady petrichor on my face

the pulse of life

running hot through the veins of the world

 

bursting out of the trees

through the forest break

the coast throws wide its embrace—

 

Oregon’s ultimate edge

vast and shimmering

spreads  before me

 

the ocean roars her welcome

along her bouldered shoreline

a silver highway rolling away to infinity

beckons me— come

 

I downshift — lean into another turn

as down — down

down I roar to the water’s edge

to surf the border between earth and sea

 

massive chiseled coastal cliffs rise to my left

waves pound to my right

seabirds call to me from on high—

“please please

please come on—

faster — faster…

get that bike up on its pipe

get it rollin’”

I hear them in my head

I hear them on the wind

”I am coming” I whisper to he wind

my promise carried away

 

every rise — every curve

every gust of salty breeze

feels like diving straight into paradise—

 

not some faraway dream

but right here

in the thunder of my wheels

 

my laughter erupts joyously

unbidden from my throat

as the simple — yet profound truth sets me free

 

the truth that freedom

isn’t somewhere else—

it is right here

 

it’s this ride itself

this rush tingling my body

singing through my soul

as the sun burns golden

over the restless sea

 

in this ride through the Cascades

the world opened to me

opened like a living dream

 

the air trembling with the scent of conifers

the far cry of rivers

as I cut and wound through the ancient—

 

and now the sea mist

surging upward as the wild surf

 slams hard the sea boulders

that are nestled firm in the sand

the result — spray likened to holy water

blessing this amazing adventure

this amazing ongoing journey

the surf roaring approval

 

the motorcycle growls beneath me

a low steady thumping

a heartbeat

carrying me between worlds

 

between mountains and clouds

forest and the earth’s far horizon

I’m chasing something I can’t quite name—

 

not speed

not distance

but release — freedom

 

what I ultimately catch

is a realization

 

freedom isn’t a thing found

not a thing given

it’s a thing chosen

in the instant you trust the road

 

the wheels

the wind

the wildness

 

in that consuming instant

I reflect on those in this world not free

not able to make that choice

denied access to that crucial pivot point

that life altering opportunity

 

exhaling gratitude

I put my head down — my teary eyes up

as onward I roll

leaning into the curves

 

rob kistner © 11/11/25

Poetry at: dVerse