Now, it is not required for poets to be unsporty, but I think it's likely that many of us would say that we were rather busy reading as kids, not sporting. Maybe the same goes now as adults--we may tend to be unsporty, at least not in the usual competitive-type activities that the word "sports" makes us think of. Maybe more of us dance or run or do yoga or ride our bikes for health and fun, rather than going hard at basketball or soccer or field hockey. (It would be fun to take an informal poll in the comments; let us know if you have or are now any kind of serious competitive sportster! We will honor all versions of sporty.)
Me, I learned early that my bod was not built to run at length--so my favorite activities involve anything that helps my muscles carry my weight. Give me wheels or water or music! But if I could choose to be accomplished at anything, it might be gymnastics.
High and Over
In second grade Frettra Miller
can already do an aerial.
She tumbles down the mat
with her long brown limbs,
gathering force, and then,
faster than I can see exactly how
Frettra tucks her elbows and throws her legs high and over: brown lightning!
She lands lightly, easy in her leotard.
I stand at the end of the mat,
not yet having written this poem,
heavier than a cart wheel
in my shorts and tank top.
No part of my body has any idea
how to begin.
draft ©HM 2022
Our host today is fellow Inkling Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone, which I have never done sufficiently to "get my aerial," as the Youtube coaches say. Now go see what the other Inklings have done with this wide-open challenge...
Linda Mitchell
Margaret Simon
Catherine Flynn
MaryLee Hahn
