“For sale, $10.00,” said the sign on the bike.
It was in the front yard, propped against an ash tree.
This certainly once belonged to a tike.
Yet, I bet they are probably no longer childlike.
They’ve now outgrown those days; hence, the established fee.
“For sale, $10.00,” said the sign on the bike.
For them, maybe learning to ride began on a trike.
And, when the training wheels came off, they skinned their knee.
This certainly once belonged to a tike.
Then, furiously pedaling over every grike,
they rode the neighborhood with their friends and felt free.
“For sale, $10.00,” said the sign on the bike.
But, one day, coming home after fishing at the dike,
their thighs smacked the handlebars, without any glee.
This certainly once belonged to a tike.
Yearning there, it makes my own girlhood memories strike.
Even so, I could not answer its quiet plea:
“For sale, $10.00,” said the sign on the bike.
This certainly once belonged to a tike.
“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:11, NASB Bible
This villanelle is copyright 2026 by Jessica McLean. File sharing is encouraged.
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