Paul, 61

'Paul's Poem'

“In the wind, we will ride free as an eagle with nothing to hide. People don’t like us because they can’t see what it’s like to really be free. With the wind in our face, I twist the throttle. Wide open is our pace, freedom is our motto. As the V-twins pound, you squeeze tight, love. I have found everything’s alright. One percent of the people you know have made it in life, incised of them it does show that it’s worth all the strife. Hearing only one sound, with just you, the V-twins pound, taking away the blues. Rounding that bend we see the reaper, but we ride right past for he’s not our keeper.”

How does that sound? We go through life and, you know, somebody hangs on tight, you know, feels good, you hear only one sound when you’re with that person. But, you know, we all round a bend, we all, you know, come across things in that moment going through that bend in life no matter what it is, you know, no matter what your status is, or where you live or how much money you got. Everybody comes to a curve in the road sometime or other, or many times, right? You know, and when we round that bend we can see, downfall, or that we won’t make it, or all that negativity, or we could see, you know, death depending, if you’re on a bike and you’re doin’ a hundred miles an hour on a sixty mile an hour curve, pretty scary. But you can also look right past it because you know, you don’t let that shit get to you.”

Photograph and story documented by Kelly Hannah.