Monday, October 31, 2011

Death Grip

Grasp life gently
Held between
Forefinger and the thumb
Barely constrained

Clutch too tight and
Paradoxically you
Forfeit all control

Try to dominate, to
Muscle through—
You’ll only
Overthrow yourself
Exhausted by the
Energetic cost

Sure, there’s a chance
You may
Lose hold
Won’t
Feel the point you
Try so hard to
Keep in line
So what

Trust
That when your eye
Hits home
Your heart, and blade
Will follow

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Palimpsest

I feel raw

Scraped and overwritten
Reused, Repurposed
Pumiced
Milked clean

Layered shreds of
Stratigraphic codices
Documenting
Educative eras past
Ghostly underwriting
Intermingled
Texts
New-found wisdom bleeds
Into the old
Resurfacing at
Most peculiar angles

I find this overlay
Yields
Neologic teachings
Fragmented stratums
Systems disparate yet
Synched

A caution, if you think you can erase the past
And start anew,
Indelible notations may prove tricky to redo

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Late Night Theme (The Badger Variations)

Earlier, rain patterned on the roof
Now
The storm has wandered off, bequeathing
Ozoned postscript
Electrified
Alert

Aural backdrop fades to
Icerink buzz and thump and yell of
Hockey stick on stick on
Ice
Adolescent expletives
Muttered imprecations with
Distressing lack of
Creativity

Here, within the white walls of the Salle
My life constricts to
Euphony, the
Patterned footwork of the
Lesson
Clash of blade
and
Pant of aging effort
Contrapuntal commentary on my progress
(Or the lack, thereof)

Here, my auditory world’s complete
A soundtrack scored to amplify my
Moods, my meaning
Voicing my ambitions
Chord my life

Here I can seek harmony within, without
Here I can conduct myself in concert with my hopes and dreams

Monday, October 17, 2011

Dialects

He twitches
You thwack

He pulls where you often
Push back

His humor—extra dry
Yours—let’s just say, employs a broader brush

Formality in counterpoint to
Sly asides that oft provoke a blush

This gesture of your arm means
Come, not go
When you approve you
Strike the blade
Just so

The mask whips off and you
Shout praise, not blame
An “A” for effort even if I blew
The phrase

And that’s just tone, contour
Inflection
The details of technique diverge
Upon dissection

The angle of the blade
Is off
The arm is out, not back
The parry with a whipping of the tip
Instead of opposition with the wrist

The same material entirely
Transformed
Through subtle permutations
Accents, mutant forms

This lexicon that I compile
—Russian into English coaching style—
Might serve other students well, but
Don’t hold your breath
This could take quite awhile

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The Feline Fencer, Part II


(An onomatopoeic sequel to this post)

Tip tap Tabby whack
Tappa tappa tappa
Thwack

Bippity bippity bippity
Thump
Swisha swisha
Flick!
Beeeeep

Sleek sleek
Stretch
Bow