This week, my total number of cycling miles since I joined Strava in April clicked over to 1000. (Strava is an app to keep track of athletic activity.) A thousand miles, mostly on a tandem (the one in the picture, from summer days in Kentucky, or the one in Paraguay), but some on a single bike.
The poem I'm sharing today is really a song, written by one of my favorites, Nichole Nordeman. It's about miles. (Scroll past the video to read the words.) As I listen to this song, I think about the miles from this year so far. Some were fun and exhilarating, coasting or even pedaling all out downhill, going out-of-control fast. Some were painful, endless climbs, in the lowest gear. I even fell off my single bike a couple of times, once landing hard enough that I had to replace my helmet. (Always wear a helmet, kids.) There were a bunch of literal miles, and it's also, of course, a metaphor for all that I can't go into. You have your own miles; you know what I mean.
Every Mile Mattered
by Nichole Nordeman
Spread the map on the table
With the coffee stain
Put your finger on the places
Show me where you've been
Is that California
Where your teardrops dried?
You drew a circle around Georgia.
Can you tell me why?
I see should have beens, could have beens
Written all over your face,
Wrong turns and bridges burned,
Things you want to change
It's history
You can't rewrite it
You're not meant to be
Trapped inside it
Every tear brought you here
Every sorrow gathered
It's history
But every mile mattered
Get the box off the top shelf
With the black and white
Snapshots of your old self
In a better light
Ghosts and regrets back again
I can see it in your eyes
Send them home, let 'em go
Don't you think it's time?
It's history
You can't rewrite it
You're not meant to be
Trapped inside it
Every tear brought you here
Every sorrow gathered
It's history
Every road and every bend
Every bruise and bitter end
All you squandered, all you spent
It mattered, it mattered
Mercy always finds a way
To wrap your blisters up in grace
Every highway you'd erase
It mattered, it mattered
But it's history
It don't define ya
You're free to leave
It all behind ya
Every tear brought you here
Every sorrow gathered
It's history
Every mile mattered
Every mile mattered
I shared this song once before, in 2018, with some thoughts.
10 comments:
Ruth, wow! 1000 miles! I'm going to have to go back and look at previous posts--which I have missed--and learn more about your biking adventures. Thanks for sharing the song. These lines:
"Mercy always finds a way
To wrap your blisters up in grace"
Wow! Amen!
Great accomplishment Ruth! Congratulations! I really enjoyed the song you shared. The visuals are really clear and I can imagine my own map like that. Excellent share. Thank you!
1000 is a lot of miles on a bike. Good onya, and keep the pedals turning! This song/poem is a gem, and I can see why it's stayed with you all these years. Now it's in my playlist, too. Great reminder that every mile matters, ever mile makes us who we are now.
Wow, this song rocked me. The ideas about regrets and every mile mattering really resonated. I love that chorus:
It's history
You can't rewrite it
You're not meant to be
Trapped inside it
I'll definitely listen to this again. Thank you so much for sharing this post today. It really meant a lot to me.
PS Your biking stats are most impressive! Keep exploring, Ruth :)
Wow! Congratulations! 1,000 miles is nothing to sneeze at. What a lovely poem and song. Love the details that bring up memories for me. Coffee stains, circled places--bridges burned(love that). This one is a keeper. Here's to more days of pedaling all out downhill! Wheeeeeeee!
Great poem and wonderful accomplishment. 1000 miles! Good advice about helmets. I love the sentiment in not letting the past define you. Yes.
Just saw this quote and thought of you:
“The years go by. The time flies. Every single second is a moment in time that passes. And it seems like nothing - but when you’re looking back ... well, it amounts to everything.” - Ray Bradbury
Ruth, congratulations on your accomplishment and thanks for sharing the Nicole N. song. It sounds like one for us to ponder at Spiritual Journey Thursday. The line that resonates with me is "It's history/You can't rewrite it." That is the truth but our history leads us to where we are now. There is comfort in the fact that we can look back and know that we have evolved. Peace!
Love the closing lines of the song/poem, Ruth. A powerful way to close. Your introduction carries weight. It presents the journey on a bike as a metaphor for life. Both bring challenges and joy.Keep those wheels turning.
Oh, Ruth... beautiful song and lyrics to accompany your accomplishment. As a fellow cyclist, well, those biking miles are special miles. I just finished a 300mi tour last week. My body is fatigued. My legs are slow up stairs and on my morning forest hikes. But I'm grateful for the miles. Thank you for sharing this.
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