in balance with strength and with grace

The Big Tent Poetry prompt for this week was to write a poem about feet. "Write about your own two feet. . . . Write about inches and feet. Write about something with feet (like a chair or a centipede). Maybe you’ll get clever and write in meter (“feet” as units of rhythm)."

in balance with strength and with grace


bearing the weight of each day
these feet have walked miles and miles
up mountains and stairwells
and pathways and hallways
through moments in time.

some days have been light
as I waded on balls of my feet
through the cave river floors,
using arms to swim-guide me
through the moving currents.

some days have been heavy
as heels seemed to drag flat
against concrete floors of
hospitals and through doorways
of sadness or grief.

some days have been still
as my feet bore no weight
from their horizontal place
on my sick bed -- no movement
to be found save for breathing.

some days are whooshing
and joyful as I ski down the slopes
and glide and push on the snow
to move forward in
sheer exhilaration of spirit.

some days seem near weightless
as I snorkel on sea's surface
and gently kick the flippers from
my toes to propel me around
and around as I breathe from the sky.

most days I am happy to keep moving
and never stand still on these feet
that can hold me and keep me upright
or quiet but in balance with
strength and with grace.


Copyright © 2011 Nan P.