LESSONS
In yoga class I am sphinx proud and silent on my mat
arms stretched by bent waist, I am snake coiled defiant then frog,with my knees tucked to elbows floating, somewhat stiffly
I am cricket, with bunched fists in groin, feet spooned upwards
and my forward chin to ground.
In dance class I am the wooden doll puppeting cloppety clicks
legs gangling to jazzy donkey music, I am
the piroueting dummy nearly colliding with practice mirrors
dizzy with clicketing, among a middle aged gaggle of girls
in a Paris basement.
In drama class,
alive at last,
I am comedian.
Now the waiter mouthfuls white bread with a sullen look,
unhelpful in his Elvis stance, no music here
just runling rain chalking windows, sirens wail,
Monoprix's monologue winks beside pedestrian lights,
while I plastic a memory of hurt,
tight-lipped with soldered spine
ready to starfish a solution
in poetry's alchemy.
