Chance Encounter

The wheels spun gently as the trail flowed out of view.  
Nothing but the thought of you.  
I gazed intently  
As the sun set anew.  

It wasn’t but a week since the trails, dried and rutted, led us down this road. The wind at our backs and the warmth of the sun dissipating upon the horizon. We were certain to be pedaling under the stars. The night’s sky glistened with the reflection of itself upon the alpine lakes. The tangent that we followed was born of adventure. 

Union Pass stood against us, high and mighty, with a headwind so severe it wrinkled our chapped skin. Our legs burned with an intensity only equated to the love we shared.  
 
The moon shone alone in the sky  
The stars departed sans alibi  
You dance upon the sands 
And catch my eye  

We hadn’t yet met. We passed by with a smile, a wave. Travelling for long miles. My confidence ebbed and flowed with the aridity of the landscape. The elevation gasped atop the divide. Yet, undivided was my attention.  

The question succumbed, why?  
To be honest was to lie  
And then the answer stood true  
The hue and beauty of you 

You transcribed my pain as I pushed the final grade of the endless pass. A speechless week encapsulated in a love yet grasped. We knew our destiny, our fate. Yet we chose to pedal amongst the thought, yet to survey the idea wholly.  

I walked amongst the stars, silently. You were entranced by the delicate waves of wind that blew warm and humid. The tension broke like a chain amidst the strain of a long-fought climb. Without a word, we crested the pass to the dim light of Dubois to the North and the faint headlamp of the climbers upon the towering peaks of the Wind River Range.  

“It’s too nice a night to spend alone,” I softly spoke. You concurred.  

Like a dream 
Amidst a beam of light 
The sight of your skin  
Akin to the whole of our hearts. 
We rode to a finish  
That never had a start.