Feeling Frailty
The six year old girl with the chipped front tooth
Clings to the side of her neighbor’s pool
Declaring for all to hear that girls
Can do anything boys can do better.
She holds onto the cool, blue porcelain
Opens her mouth
Fills her lungs to the brim with precious air
And plunges her head into the water.
The calmed silence of water-filled ear canals
Brings serenity and wonder
Until the panic of her cells makes her hurt
So bad she wants to scream.
The water tells her of the choice
Between forcing your head above water
And opening your mouth to end it all
And the girl pulls herself up with a smile.
The six year old girl with the chipped front tooth
Clings to the side of her neighbor’s pool
Declaring for all to hear that girls
Can do anything boys can do better.
She holds onto the cool, blue porcelain
Opens her mouth
Fills her lungs to the brim with precious air
And plunges her head into the water.
The calmed silence of water-filled ear canals
Brings serenity and wonder
Until the panic of her cells makes her hurt
So bad she wants to scream.
The water tells her of the choice
Between forcing your head above water
And opening your mouth to end it all
And the girl pulls herself up with a smile.
By: Lacey Lord