Late one night, I left work after an extended second shift and started the
40-mile trek home.  On the Interstate between Boonville and Columbia, my
attention was fully taken up scanning for deer.  I exited I-70 at Stadium
Blvd. and headed south towards home.

It was about 2 a.m. and the streets  were pretty much empty.  The summer air,
still heavy with humidity despite the hour, caught and reflected the quiet hum of
my bike as we glided through  the streets of Columbia.

The white circles from the streetlights caught and passed us along, one to another,
our shadows racing away at impossible angles.  Catching a red light, I pulled
to a stop at an intersection.

Sitting there, I meditated on the steady, smooth beat of the engine, the hum of the
streetlamps, and the feeling of being completely alone in a city of sleeping souls.
I glanced down at the black and silver of my mount, seeing the colors for the first
time as the soft glow of the moon against the ebony infinity of space.  I realized my
bike was in his element; my personal starship bound for places and experiences
both new and familiar.

A quiet spirit passing in the night on a journey to forever.......

 Ralph Couey
 Columbia, MO
 '95 PC800  "Seishin No Yomichi"
 "A life lived without risk is no life at all."