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Mid Life Crisis

All the good men have gone.
They cycle in an arc under the moon,
their lycra ablaze in starlight.
They know where they are going.
They don’t look down.
Below, women and children
crane their necks and jab fingers
but this time they’re not
taking a Sunday ride to Nudgee Beach
or up Mount Coot-tha,
or meeting for coffee to compare
carbon composite shoes.
The Cycling God is piping them
across the mouth of sky
and soon the clouds will open
and take them in their
finest pink and yellow
DayGlo glory.



Jane Frank teaches a range of writing disciplines in the School of Humanities at Griffith University in South East Queensland as well as courses in cultural policy and arts and event management for Open Universities Australia. She has recently completed a PhD examining the rise of the global Book Town Movement. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.