30in30, Day 24: "Run"

Run

She has legs like 2 pylons, legs like marble sculptures,
mus-cu-la-ture rolling along finely tuned under her skin,
legs that should act as pistons, propelling her on-
ward and upward, all sprinting and dancing,
and jumping and plies, all climbing and conquering.

But.

This woman wasn't made to strut.
Or skate. No leaping, no racing,
no finish line in sight with her bear-
ing down the home stretch,
triumphant.

Spastic,

they call it.

Diplegic. Hypertonic.

What looks strong is actually weak,
and what looks weak …

well …

This woman was made merely to watch soccer,
admire from a distance how it looks like a dance.
This woman was made to sit outside the rink,
taking pictures of the skaters.
This woman was made to feel like an addendum,
a useless limb, an inconvenience to her friends,
who all sit at high tables and strand her with the grandfathers,
closer to the floor.

Silently, she chants:

Remain in the present.
Do not resent others.
Stop pitying yourself.

This woman was made to read a lot,
in lieu of other, more active pursuits.

This woman can quote Jamaica Kincaid,
Thomas Milton, Anne Sexton, Audre Lorde,
Walt Whitman; this woman knows verse,
from Chaucer to Angelou, and back again;
she can debate about the na-
ture of original sin,
and discuss the inevitable death of the Sun --

But really,

all this woman wants to do?

is run.

T.A.B. 4-24-13