“A Robert Burns song poem titled "You take the Interstate and I'll take my e-bike and I'll eat an ice cream before you!"”

You take the Interstate—straight as a crow,  
Six lanes and a hum of commuter-flow.  
Breakneck and breathless, you push for the line,  
Tailpipes and taillights and endless road signs.

But I’ll take my e-bike, wee wheels agleam,  
Pedaling softly through fields like a dream.  
Down through the poplars and wild buttercup,  
Past rivers that ripple and kestrels that swoop.

I’ll stop for an ice cream by Tannahill Lane,  
With heather-sweet breezes to cool off my brain.  
Pistachio swirling, my fingers turn cold—  
The pure joy of freedom, much richer than gold.

The round of the tarmac may roar in your ears,  
But mine hears the linnet and faint reedy cheers,  
For short cuts are tempting when speed is the goal,  
But life can move kindly when traveled by soul.

So haste ye, my friend, down highways of grey—  
I’ll linger with daisies and fresh summer hay,  
And whether by triumph, or shimmer, or hue,  
I’ll eat my ice cream before you!

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