Learning How to Ice Skate

Greetings all,

How great is wi-fi even in NYC I have had some time to quickly spit out a nifty little thought I had. I just partook in what I believe to be a bit of a new yorkian thing to do ice skating in parks

It isn't the big leagues yet (ie not central park) blast it all I don't remember the name of the park but the moral of this tale is pretty cool. Embarrassingly enough despite probably ice skating more than both my friends I was worse than both.

I was so out of control needing to use my mental energy to bend my knees, keep leaning forward, hands not too far out at the sides not to mention dodging people and cripes it was really cool but 100+ people on the ice is not so easy to avoid.

Anyway after losing my friends again around the rink a thought occurred to me something someone pretty wise recently told me if you initiate you are in control. So rather than waiting timidly for people to pass or gaps to open I started to go for the gaps and weave in and out of people. It was still Dan scary but it was also taking the power back and I think perhaps that is a brilliant metaphor for other struggles so I wrote it down. Whatever it is you are challenging yourself to do remember initiating does give you the power and running is easier but you lose power. Anyway this is Learning How to Skate.

Learning How to...Ice Skate

Learning how to skate
Is the lesson for my life
Teetering and swaying
Not comprehending of other
Bodies scattered close and near

Scratching over the ice taking
Care to graft new tracks not
Slip into old cracks in the ice
Avoiding and swaying

Out of control
Not flying falling
Not dancing sprawling
And gawking only ever gawking
Across the bodies close and near
Always danger always fear

Bodies that dart out behind me
Loop me and leave and
Others skimming gently
Others still stumbling but
In different speeds worlds dimensions

There are gaps and if just
Slowly I rock my body up
So that I see gaps
So I stumble to gaps and
Let myself do the stumbling

Why then yes
Somehow at last it actually
feels as though I'm skating

Teetering swaying sprawling
Now falling but
In the end also am I skating
And remarkably also strafing.

I am skating.