"sonja" poems - Hello Poetry

For my cousin, Chris Goldrick Lacing my skates after walking two miles in girl-strictured delight Mom's stories of Sonja Henie-- No, not ever Lacing my skates with snow-ball pompoms felt skirt and nylon tights Cute little hat with matching scarf My thighs and fingers already freezing icy burn from miles on foot to get there the lake where-- I must get out I must get OUT! Knowing what to expect from my body the quick-twitch of muscle Could always sense specific-- gravity of water at 22 degrees Desiring to feel the motion between ice and steel Read speed's vibrations through my body The brain registers relation to weather's effect Tell of velocity possibility of fall Feel the slash of the blades beneath me Throw my weight sideways, sudden to hear that furious hiss An object in motion tending, dire to stay in motion Threatening to stay there always in its heights-- of speed away-- from the crowds of skaters swirling distant in the lights Seeking instead the farthest reaches of Porter Lake speed and speed and more to overcome inertia of what it is to become undone at the outer edges, of humanity A force centrifugal unto myself Avoiding Pregnant and slow with years and babes.... The best must be broken and tamed of what it takes to stay free catching the edges with every stride catching my toe in the quick 180 spray of frost to the sudden still Listen to the frigid chill and the heave of my breath tumbling into evidence Gliding Once Forever-- on, into darkness of woods on frozen water The wildness of it all So infatuated with flight so full of grace I forgot Sonja The moon rose from her seat in the treetops and applauded

0

Jul 17, 2018

Jul 17, 2018 at 3:54 PM UTC

elizabeth-balise

Night Skating at Porter Lake

For my cousin, Chris Goldrick Lacing my skates after walking two miles in girl-strictured delight Mom's stories of Sonja Henie-- No, not ever Lacing my skates with snow-ball pompoms felt skirt and nylon tights Cute little hat with matching scarf My thighs and fingers already freezing icy burn from miles on foot to get there the lake where-- I must get out I must get OUT! Knowing what to expect from my body the quick-twitch of muscle Could always sense specific-- gravity of water at 22 degrees Desiring to feel the motion between ice and steel Read speed's vibrations through my body The brain registers relation to weather's effect Tell of velocity possibility of fall Feel the slash of the blades beneath me Throw my weight sideways, sudden to hear that furious hiss An object in motion tending, dire to stay in motion Threatening to stay there always in its heights-- of speed away-- from the crowds of skaters swirling distant in the lights Seeking instead the farthest reaches of Porter Lake speed and speed and more to overcome inertia of what it is to become undone at the outer edges, of humanity A force centrifugal unto myself Avoiding Pregnant and slow with years and babes.... The best must be broken and tamed of what it takes to stay free catching the edges with every stride catching my toe in the quick 180 spray of frost to the sudden still Listen to the frigid chill and the heave of my breath tumbling into evidence Gliding Once Forever-- on, into darkness of woods on frozen water The wildness of it all So infatuated with flight so full of grace I forgot Sonja The moon rose from her seat in the treetops and applauded