Safety First

by Leah Mueller

Before helmets existed,
I rode my bike dozens of miles
to the pool, tennis courts,
and library. My bare head

sailed through updrafts
as I encircled the middle school
parking lot, for no reason

except it was there. Injury
happened to other people,
but I never gave it much thought.

Later, my own son, swaddled
in knee and elbow pads,
head encased in a sturdy

fiberglass helmet, wobbled
down the sidewalk for half a block,
then proclaimed he didn’t care

if he ever rode a bicycle.
After thirty-two years,
he still doesn’t know how.

Leah Mueller is the author of ten prose and poetry books. Her work appears in Rattle, Midway Journal, Citron Review, The Spectacle, Miracle Monocle, Outlook Springs, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, etc. It has also been featured in trees, shop windows in Scotland, poetry subscription boxes, and literary dispensers throughout the world. Her flash piece, "Land of Eternal Thirst" will appear in the 2022 edition of Sonder Press' Best Small Fictions anthology. Visit her website at www.leahmueller.org.