I was cycling along carefully, mentally flossing,

When I saw straight ahead a pedestrian crossing.

But if you are uncertain what I am about,

Let me remove any shadow of doubt.

 

I refer to the facility supplied by the law,

That's meant to give sensible foot passengers the floor;

But by chance as it happened - and looking at a loss,

At that moment a pedestrian seemed ready to cross.

 

A quick look behind me (the highway was clear),

I slowed to a crawl and changed down a gear,

But the solitary pedestrian (there's always just one!)

Seemed to dismiss me (or was that the fun?).

 

Fiddling in pockets...examining a purse,

Looking like the victim of thieving or worse,

It was apparent to me that I was ignored

But as I cycled on slowly, I found myself floored!

 

Without any warning...did I hear a laugh?

The pedestrian ran into the road - and my path.

We managed to untangle - unharmed but in shock,

And tottered to our feet where I heard my knees knock.

 

The words that assailed me I recall to this day...

"You lycra-clad loony, you're supposed to give way!"