Night ride to Hanoi

 The sun was setting
and the dragonflies and bats
were out catching dinner
as the two friends approached the village 

It’s the blue house on the right 

They pulled up in front of the house,
got off their bikes
and greeted the beekeeper

They’re all back now,
he said
as he closed the door to the hive

 Thank you
We’ll take good care of them 

The men strapped the beehive
onto the back of one of the Minsks,
paid the beekeeper and said goodbye
and then began
the return journey to Hanoi 

♫ ♫ ♫ 

It began to rain
soon after the men left the village

They had already covered the hive
with a raincoat
before leaving the village,
so they stopped only for a moment
to put on their rain gear 

The moon had risen
and the stars were beginning
to show themselves
The men got back on their bikes
and continued on their way 

♫ ♫ ♫ 

The rain fell like a waterfall
and soon the road was flooded,
so the men kept to the center,
where it was not as deep 

The rain continued to fall,
and as they were passing through a small town
they came upon an especially long and deep channel
in the road

Think we can get through? 

It looks pretty deep 

Let’s try 

They put their bikes in gear
and began to cross,
revving the engines along the way
to keep the water out of the exhaust pipes 

The first bike made it across,
but the second one did not

 Drying the spark plug didn’t help,
and the local mechanics were unable
to get the bike going again
before they closed shop for the night 

We could have put your bike
on the roof of a bus,
but the last bus to Hanoi
has already left 

And without our passports
we won’t be able to check in
to a hotel 

Perhaps I could tow your bike
back to Hanoi 

And so Danny tied one end of a rope
to the back of his bike
and the other
to the handlebars of his friend’s 

Stay close
so that nobody tries to drive between us
They won’t be able to see the rope in the dark
And don’t allow too much slack
or your front wheel might get tangled up in it

 And then the two friends
and about ten thousand bees
resumed the trip back,
in the dark
and in the rain,
to Hanoi 

♫ ♫ ♫