at one point, i scream/laughed “i am flying—flYiNg”—& i did

back on my snowboard last friday, first time after 7 years…

.

i didn’t think
you could forget the magic of those snow-capped trees,
of curves carved into powder sheets
the echo of a wondrous, sparkling landscape,
spitting tribal sounds into your ear
only muted by a hand-knit-by-my-daughter cap

i didn’t think
that i could trust the mountain’s tongue //again
as she says “throw yourself, arms spread wide
into my chest, head first
& test if… ”

in the car my lips press tight
in a small line
i don’t say a word
as we wind our way up thousand tiny roads

&put the shroud line on wrong leg first,
shivering against my husband’s chest
as the chair-lift moves us to the top

after seven years you have to re-learn
how the snowboard beNds sensitively
left or right just by the slight adjustment
of your hips, didn’t feel it//first

i’m sweat and ache, card doesn’t work
& hubs lost somewhere in the white,
an old man fall/crashes
lift stops// he climbs in, sits next to me,
shyly smiling as we float //parallel
to the slope’s white& mighty breast,

he shakes his head “oh my, oh my, i dunno–”
& i wanna put my arm around him
“hey, it happens, you’re good–”

& leaning in the wind, relax
slowly re//cognize her thumping pulse,
washing up like waves against us,
brEAthe, adjust the straps &
trust she will catch me

hours later,
we sit on the trunk rim of the car,
hubs feeding me cookies (lips quivering)
hot tea, massages my aching legs

& i will wash his later in the shower
as a bunch of rainbows carve-trails
down my cheeks, neck, hips and–
“you did well today”
“hmmm” i say,
eyes closed & mouth a gurgling water-
fall
———-fAll

—–faLL

arms spread//inHale
the mountain’s breatH
still snowWet // on my face

.

for #OpenLinkNight at dVerse Poets… pub doors open at 3pm EST…