Dismounting
Philip pushes off and starts peddling
the ancient penny-farthing
he initiates talks with the National Trust
realising this is his only hope
wobbling alarmingly at first
on that high saddle above the big wheel
negotiations prove long and tricky
numerous issues need addressing
he grips the handlebars
and keeps his balance
one by one the problems
are sorted out
swishing past the tumbledown mansion
into the overgrown gardens
now confident the derelict estate he inherited
can be brought back onto an even keel
he knows how to avoid a crash landing
from that rickety machine
sure this is the way to save
Erddig and himself from disaster
at the end of his ride
he leaps down with aplomb
he signs the handover documents
and gets off in one piece
I like the cycle metaphor. I find the last line a bit clumsy. What about ‘gets off in one piece/and signs on the dotted line’ as the final couplet?
Thanks for the input, Martin. I’m not sure about the last line, either. I used “got off” hoping that as well as the dismounting metaphor it would have the added resonance of “got off scot-free” , “got off lightly” and “got off” as in “found not guilty”, but perhaps not! I do definitely want the dismounting bit to be the very last line, so may just simplify it as “and gets off in one piece”.
I really like the form, the intermingling of voices. I like ‘he gets off in one piece’ as a final line. In fact, it’s almost as though the voices have swapped over… ‘aplomb’ being more authoritarian and ‘gets off’ being more idiomatic. Which works especially well with the ‘handover documents’ – excellent stuff!