The Flyer
I want to be as brave as the 14-year-old cheerleader,
a flyer they call her. How she rubber-bands her body
taut in a split second, trained to be tossed up into
the stadium’s stratosphere. How in mid-air, she strikes
her lightning-quick arabesque and then softens
her adolescent sinew to fall into her partner’s cradle.
Always landing feet-first on a faded rubberized track
to cushion the impact that’s bound to ricochet up
through her young knees. I want to shake off pain
like a pompon, let the sun irradiate my fears and turn
them into glittery-gold streamers to cheer me on. I can
almost hear the fans chanting from the stands—
Yes, you are enough…You got this…You can!
*
Shawn Aveningo-Sanders’ poems have appeared worldwide in literary journals including Calyx, Eunoia Review, Blue Heron Review, Tule Review, Amsterdam Quarterly, About Place Journal, and Snapdragon, to name a few. Author of What She Was Wearing, she’s co-founder of The Poetry Box press and managing editor of The Poeming Pigeon. Shawn is a proud mother of three amazing humans and Nana to one darling baby girl. She shares the creative life with her husband in Portland, Oregon.
What an inspiring poem! I love this!
Thank you, Michael.
Love the movement & quiet power of this poem—best words, best order to draw the reader deeply into the moment—real time/memory elegantly juxtaposed!
Thank you, Kirsten!