"Ode to Moped" by Nancy Boutilier
Anacapa Visiting Artist Nancy Boutilier remembers her first ride at Thacher
Ode to Mo-ped
Looks like it might but doesn’t
your name rhyme with hoped
but you are saddled, Mo-ped,
and I am revved up for the ride.
The mountain sings your footsteps
cadenced rhythm of rock beneath us
where Hades still hold Persephone
and nine Muses place their bets against us
Stony reminders everywhere
of what your mother made of men who looked.
You, winged and packing
thunderbolts,
me squat and bent with years
of sitting at a desk in search of knowledge.
Okay, Pegasus you’re not
and I’m not Eve
But for today we are
descended imitations --
because this is Paradise I’m in
and, Moped, you can fly.
So wing me home
or just deliver me to the barn
I’ll thank Athena later
and tonight I’ll find you,
Mo-Ped,
outlined in the stars.
First Draft
Jan. 22, 2011 Thacher School
After riding Moped with Susan and reading E.E. Cummings
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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
Notice of nondiscriminatory policy as to students: The Thacher School admits students of any race, color, national, and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national, and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other School-administered programs.