Sports Poem or WTV

The stage waits, and I await my music cue. 

Lights burn bright into my eyes,

Flattening the crowd into silence I cannot see,

Only the flashes are allowed to be seen.

The snaps of cameras tracking every breath I take.

This is an arena.

Each movement is measured,

Each step counted in muscle memory and time.

My body responds before thought can interfere,

Trained into precision, repetition, and control.

My feet slide across the floor as if it is second nature.

Music is second nature.

Like rhythmic breathing that sustains my being.

Between counts, Between turns, Between judgements unseen.

If I can find the pattern,

If I can hold without breaking,

Then the score will hold too,

Then this time the silence won’t swallow the rhythm.

I spin, twirl, and push forward.

Through the invisible pressure of eyes and expectation, 

Until my body strains past comfort, 

Until endurance becomes the language I speak.

I dance not for spectacle alone,

But for the precision of survival in motion,

For the moment where control does not slip.

Where every beat is met,

Every motion lands,

And nothing in me gives out before the final count.

About the Author

Bella John is a freshman English Literature major with a Pan African Studies minor. She is Philadelphia born and raised and enjoys thrifting and shopping with friends whenever they get the chance. When at home, she enjoys reading sci-fi novels or the occasional rom-com, if not that they are probably playing Animal Crossing or Slime Rancher with a video essay in the background. Outside of reading and writing Bella’s favorite form of self-expression can be seen through her sense of fashion.