balance

balance

watching the gymnasts

I am somewhat sorry you

will never be

an athlete   child

I am not that dedicated

mother driving you

to early late or distant

practices standing by the

pool or court or pitch for

hours watching    washing

all the kit   learning

all the lingo

I have other

things to do

and other

dreams for you

and dreams for me

the life of the mind

is always ours

I joke and I invoke

that false and deeply-

felt divide but

underneath

the dark truth

bites:

even that unasked-

for gift of mind is not

a promise

what have I given you

after all

you don’t dream

of winning now

not even of competing

there’s a form of

glory you will never taste

I shut that door for you

I tried to keep

some others open

originally published in The View from Olympia anthology (Half Moon Press, Otley), July 2020