The Balance Beam

picture by pinterest

The Balance Beam

this night the Cheshire Cat moon is grinning 

low in my East horizon             the witching hour

beam spends its night waiting

never sleeping             silent it

keeps worn and time oiled skin 

warmed and waiting

like a Budhist Monk in meditation

how easy it use to be     lithe body     bold will

climbing aboard

i am old .... how am I expected

to mount once more the 4 inches 

like a cliche'

i use to stand stork like all day

without a tremor            

walking was a fresh breeze of spring

leaping splits, saltos and hand springs

all the apparatus working and silky

but this morning finds me       creaking

              cracking 

once more the limits of a falling body

....... i climb on board    do my job though

 

inside 

          

all the wobbling incapability 

has a mask and stink of fear

but

all goes quiet .. 

the glass pond ... 

the loon's cry

the lotus 

like the Monk

I would think I were dead 

if not for my own 

Cheshire

Cat 

grin.

10/16/2020

E. 

 

Author's Note

Reviews

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Wow an amazing way to tell of the changes as physical deterioration creeps into once well oiled bones. This has such a visual impact as you take the beam as your focus and your flow and word choice gives this an inevitable determined sadness. Bravo from one working out to try to stave off the knackers yard!

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahaha yes .."stave of the knackers yard" for sure .. ahahahha i am larfing loud over that right now .. i am keeping it in me nog .. and throwing out my .. "keeping the wolves at bay" :))))))))))))))) knacker yard indeed ... thanks so much for reading and taking time to review .. always a blessing my friend
E.

[Sami Khalil]

At least you can be a gymnast of the mind(hence your name Einstein of the South) and not the body and this poem shows how agile and great thinker you are. The poem was realistic and touching for we are all headed that way, waiting for our appointed day, but with hope of the afterlife. We do cherish those active stages of life that we lost. We do contemplate the lessons learned. You are imparting that to us as we speak sir.

[Einstein Noodle]

thanks for reviewing Sami ... yep .. we are all headed in that direction aren't we ... the thing is ..if we wake up ... get up ...right?! :))))))))))))))
E.

[Sami Khalil]

Hehehe. So true and well said. You are welcome sir.

[Neville]

these words were simply aching to be recognised and writ ... they have been aching for a while now, but shy .. it used to be that way for me too Gene ..

strong of arm and lithe of limb and with a sense of balance not just in the physical sense, but all ways ... and of course, as a registered kongo zen Buddhist monk myself, I know about such things .. No kiddin, dont it help tho' just a little to know you aint alone ...

Down ya neck buddy you just cracked the age thing here :))))

[Einstein Noodle]

yes it does sir ... and you ... a registered kongo zen Buddhist monk yer self .. i am humbled beyond measure :))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) slainte mhath ... i am happy to have your visits always
thank you
E.

[Neville]

and I in turn am always happy to visit my friend .. down ya neck squire :)))))

[Ken Simm.]

This goes way beyond just musing about age and it is a cornocopia of beautiful lines that look as if they have existed as long as the component parts of the wooden beam.

[Einstein Noodle]

you've made me day sir! thank you so much for taking time on my pages .. and all your helpful and encouraging reviews .. peace brother!
E.

[Chris Shaw]

Second time round Mr E, my last response got lost in the ether. That beam, represents youth to me and the peak of strength and fitness. I have long admired the efforts of gymnasts to perfect balance on such a narrow bar. And then I ponder on the passing years and reflect on how our bodies take a battering. Creaking bones and sore muscles all come with advancing years. So sad that as our knowledge and understanding of life increases, our physical health can fly out the window. Still, we have no say in the matter and have to learn to live with it and adjust. That Mr E is where you wonderful pen took me on a bright Saturday morning besides the ocean.

Chris

[Einstein Noodle]

ahhhhhhhhhhh i hear the surf and taste the salt breeze .. so thank you sister :) yeah .. we get old .. and creaky :) i have been wanting to write a confessional poem and this is the closest i could get ... i also love and admire the gymnast athletes...i can't believe how much courage it takes to get up there and do the impossible things they do .. i think it is my favorite Olympic sport to watch ... and they do it with poise and such grace ... a worthy aspiration in our hectic and sometimes messy lives eh!? be well .. enjoy that ocean more :)

[Chris Shaw]

The ocean is wonderful, will be returning home tomorrow. Gymnasts have incredible discipline. They dedicate their whole lives to the perfection of performance. Not sure I could muster that dedication to anything. Perhaps poetry and family. Have a great day Mr E:) All the best from this side of the pond.

[Einstein Noodle]

:)............................

[John the Baptist]

Nothing like the years to make one humble. Still, I liked the spirit with which the speaker continues to make the effort, for when we quit trying, real decline sets in. Try Tai Chi; it's much less demanding and still gets the job done.

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahahah Tai Chi eh!? :))))))))))))))))))))))))) much safer too ... but yes! that's the thing isn't it .. not giving up .. use everything we have every moment and keep straightening our shoulders, head up tuck in the abs and butt ...press on ... i have tapes of an exercise guru of sorts named Miranda Esmonde-White ...i don't have to be quite as serious as i think Tai Chi requires ... my dog Beauregard thinks i'm playing when i do her routines ... if i'm on the floor stretching he sits on me ... he's 190 lbs .. i get to laughing so mush i give up on the routine :)))))))))) thanks for reading John .. i really appreciate your support here at the Cafe' ...peace!
E.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I see a figurative balance beam...as I grow now into my 70's, I am striving to find a balance in my life...to feel that I have finally reached a point where things make sense, where I make sense, my life makes sense...my purpose as fulfilled as I could make it...
the bones of being start aching for answers.

j.

[Einstein Noodle]

wow! i love how you put that jacob .. the bones of being start aching for answers ... you stayed in the metaphor more than i ... my bones are simply aching :)))))))))))))))))) thanks so much for your take on this ... it beautiful says i!
E.

[barleygirl]

You've captured the thing that torments me more than anything else. It's a b***h to not be able to prance nimbly like I used to. As always, you pick one of my all-time favorite tunes to emphasize how f****n' long it's been since I wuz young & nimble, dancing to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" . . . the crescent you open with is, of course, the lead-in to a blue moon (second full moon in October) . . . positioned provocatively between the harvest moon & the blue moon, so I was very much into your alluring opening about that particular crescent. Anyhow, back to the gripes & groans of old fart syndrome . . . I love your inventive, sparkling way of comparing youth to being able to run amuck on a balance beam . . . that's a killer attack of symbolism, my friend, making me feel the ache of absence all the more intensely! I try not to whine about my constant all-over pain & I wish I could express it as artfully as you have (for me, it comes out like a big endless whine, so I just don't go there!) Thank you for sharing this fresh whiff of whine (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Einstein Noodle]

i feel you Margie ... and you can whine dine with me any time

[Delmar Cooper]

First, thank you so much for writing and sharing this poem. Second, thanks for addressing a universal issue that is particular to me. Third, thank you for your expertise in writing. This poem was so very well crafted as to be seamlessly acceptable to the reader's mind. Good on you.

Nit: Is it use or used?

[Einstein Noodle]

i appreciate your input Delmar ... thank you for taking time ... you are very kind and generous my friend ... that's a great question about "use" or "used" ...from Merriam-Webster "Used to refers to something familiar or routine, as in "I'm used to getting up early for work," or to say that something repeatedly happened in the past like "we used to go out more." Use to typically occurs with did; "did you use to work there?" or "it didn't use to be like that," describing something in the past ..." ... use to it is :) but more importantly for me .. saying used to isn't the way i would say it normally ... yooos to perhaps even better :)))))))))but i grew up in upstate NY .. thanks again for stopping by and reading ... and especially for reviewing ..
E.

[Delmar Cooper]

Always a pleasure to read your work.

[Lydia Shutter]

Oh, you are far from dead, E.....you walk that balance beam like a pro. We all feel the changes in our bodies and our stamina as we age, but that is life....it is a natural progression, isn't it? If we can balance the changes, those snaps and crackles of the bones are just the background music of our days. No need to adjust and accept the changes....embrace them. It is the circle of life and you have drawn a vivid landscape of that here. Wonderful write. Lydi**

[Einstein Noodle]

ohhhhh dear Lydia my friend! i am so happy you feel me in this one .. very gratifying for me indeed! i love how you put it "those snaps and crackles of the bones are just the background music" i love it!! thanks always for you input .. i am happier in the day for it! :)
E.