This long bat mitzvah poem for my daughter Elise was based on an all day bike ride 
we took the year before from Cliffside Park, NJ to Suffern, NY where Bernice's sister 
Sandra was living. And, just as you can follow Longfellow's poem, the Midnight Ride 
of Paul Revere with a map, so you can follow this poem with a map, which brother 
Evan constructed showing the trail we took that day. It was one of the most memorable 
days I ever spent with my daughter and I think she will long remember it too. 

After this poem, I stopped writing poems for almost a decade. I didn't like the 
 followed was not happy for me. Mourning over the death of my father combined
with male menopause, financial worries, and troubles with the job at CCNY, where
 it seemed I would be laid off in a programmatic move during a time of fiscal
exigency for NYC


Elise's (Yagen's) Ride
Read with an Illustrated Map

Listen, my children and I shall tell
Of the all day ride of Elise Rachel
On the fifth of September in 89
I said "Since the weather is bound to be fine
And Rose just got home from intensive care
We are going to take a bike ride there
Mom will drive there and then bring us back
But this is getting me way off track

It is 30 long miles from Cliffside Park
We started early to arrive before dark
The sun was bad but the hills were the worst
For each one added to Yagen's great thirst

One day ahead we laid out the course
Taking the shortest route from the source
We started off going north on 9 West
Despite the traffic that road was the best
For on it Elise knew just where to buy
Life-saving drinks when her throat would run dry

Six miles later all the stores lay behind
"I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty", she whined
By plan I had packed frozen orangeade
"Oh Dad, may I eat it there in the shade?"
That magical potion kept her alive
But for how much longer could she survive?

We soon reached the crest of the Palisades
In silence, in Alpine, with no grand parades
We turned our bikes west on Closet Dock Road
To coast downhill and reap what we sowed
But to our dismay, one final steep hill
Reared its cruel face to test Yagen's will

The next two miles were easy as pie
She did them so fast I thought she would fly
But I had a worried look in my eye
Fearing that ever she fell she might die
In a flash I pictured the very same place
She once fell from her bike and onto her face
When I let her ride down a small slope a five
I surely was lucky she still was alive

By noon Elise said, "I need to have lunch."
So we stopped at Closter just on the hunch
That Jerry would join us for all the fun
But he had already eaten a ton
So we pedaled until the sun drew high
And stopped for a soda and pizza pie.
"I feel really good daddy, I must confess."
She left really fast without cleaning her mess.

We started again on roads that were flat
And glided along and had a nich chat
Turning westward once more, the hills grew real steep
For the longest time then Elise didn't peep.
Till she turned to me with a face full of sorrow
And said, "Daddy dear, by this time tomorrow
I'll be dead and my sould will be in heaven
Unless you can find me a 7-11."

A moment later the sign came in sight
The store on the left with a park on the right
She slurped up her slurpee and swung on the swings
And we talked about the silliest things
We played and relaxed for almost an hour
For the very next hill was as high as a tower
With no trees to shade Elise from the sun
"Oh, Daddy, Oh, Daddy, this is no fun."
She sagged off her Jumper, sweat poured from her brow
"Oh, Daddy, I wish we were at Sandra's now."

Then I grew nervous, my heart turned and tossed
"Where is the Garden State Parkway, I'm lost?"
Just then the Parkway appeared on a bridge
Riding the backbone of old Chestnut Ridge
"Its downhill, Elise, you have good cause for hope."
But Elise had come to the end of her rope
"Twenty five dollars if you find a quarter."
I said to prod her, but she just croaked, "Water!"
Which we found at the nearby police station
Then walking biked we gained elevation.
I pointed out the sights along the West Road.
Elise only said, "I need to be towed."

The town was full of houses so pretty
I said, "Elise t sure is a pity
I do not have the financial goods
To buy us a home here in these woods."

Then Elise looked down and saw a stream
And answered me as if in a dream
"I'd gladly give the last drop of my blood...
Just to dring from that stream and lie in its mud."
One short year later her wishes came true
But I'm deep in debt, so what else is new?

We reached New York State but then saw Smith Hill.
'Oh, Dad, I never knew muscles could kill.
Please bury me here in the yard of this church."
I said, "I'll never leave you here in the lurch
For there cross the road is the old Airmont deli
I'll buy lemon ices to fill up your belly."

With the sweet taste of lemon still on her tongue
Elise pedaled quickly and then out she sung
"Oh, Dad, riding fast is so easy for me."
I decided not to mention gravity
She zoomed downhill with a feeling so fine
We purchased no drink at Route 59

At the Thruway we drew within sight of our goal
But there straight ahead lay one small final knoll
Which we topped and breezed to the house in the dell
Elise sprang up sprightly and rang the door bell
Oh, you should have seen the look of surprise 
And the beautiful gleam in her mother's eyes
Elise the related the tale I just read
Mnow all's done, except for the postscript ahead.

Postscript

A few short weeks later I took the same ride
But this time there was no Elise at my side
I rode much, much faster, but when it was done
I realized it hadn't been quite so much fun
For I'd gotten to know my daughter that day
And I wouldn't have her any other way.

27 June 1992