Bionic as she might be with her new
knees, she is not yet as omnipotent
as the huntress Diana who is posture
perfect pulling back on her bow while
she aims an arrow; neither can she
swim from Havana to Key West
without a shark net like Diana Nyad
at sixty-four.
At the airport she requires a full
body search due to the titanium,
arms crossed over her head like
a criminal whose car the police
are searching; then the security
guard lightly runs her palms along
her detainee’s hips explaining each
insinuating gesture with memorized
phrases, “Now I’m going to pat
the inside of your thighs, now I’m
going to touch your glutes,” to make
sure that extra padding is attached.
Once at the condo by the beach,
she removes her clothes, then
squirms into the blue elastic flowers
on her bathing suit, her knee scars
like vines, while she presses her
sweaty fingertips against the dresser
top to balance herself as she struggles
to yank the suit up, clumsily alternating
her legs that once took long hikes
but still don’t co-ordinate since
the surgery, into each elasticized leg
opening.
At last, she reaches the white sand
she has longed for through anesthesia
and physical therapy, and walks along
the congratulating waves again.
Author Bio:
Jan Ball started seriously writing poetry and submitting it for publication in 1998. Since then, she has had 215 poems accepted or published in the U.S., Canada, India and England (hopefully Australia soon). Published poems have appeared in: Atlanta Review, Calyx, Connecticut Review, Main Street Rag, Nimrod, Phoebe and many other journals. Poems are forthcoming in: By&By, Caveat Lector, The Courtship of Winds, Medical Encounter, The Sacred Cow and Straylight. Her poem, “my face emerges from my face,” was second runner-up in the Spring 2010 contest issue of So to Speak. Her poem “carwash,” won the 2011 Betsy Colquitt Award for the best poem in a current issue of Descant, Fort Worth. Her two chapbooks, Accompanying Spouse (2011) and Chapter of Faults (2014), have both been published by Finishing Line Press and are available on Amazon. She is a member of The Poetry Club of Chicago.
Ball has has taught ESL at DePaul University in Chicago until recently. She lived in Australia for fifteen years with her Australian husband. Our two children, Geoffrey and Quentin, were born in Brisbane. She is a twin to Jean Helmken and a Franciscan nun for seven years. When not writing poetry, teaching ESL, working with her personal trainer, going to book group or traveling, she and her husband and like to cook for friends. These background experiences infuse her poetry.
knees, she is not yet as omnipotent
as the huntress Diana who is posture
perfect pulling back on her bow while
she aims an arrow; neither can she
swim from Havana to Key West
without a shark net like Diana Nyad
at sixty-four.
At the airport she requires a full
body search due to the titanium,
arms crossed over her head like
a criminal whose car the police
are searching; then the security
guard lightly runs her palms along
her detainee’s hips explaining each
insinuating gesture with memorized
phrases, “Now I’m going to pat
the inside of your thighs, now I’m
going to touch your glutes,” to make
sure that extra padding is attached.
Once at the condo by the beach,
she removes her clothes, then
squirms into the blue elastic flowers
on her bathing suit, her knee scars
like vines, while she presses her
sweaty fingertips against the dresser
top to balance herself as she struggles
to yank the suit up, clumsily alternating
her legs that once took long hikes
but still don’t co-ordinate since
the surgery, into each elasticized leg
opening.
At last, she reaches the white sand
she has longed for through anesthesia
and physical therapy, and walks along
the congratulating waves again.
Author Bio:
Jan Ball started seriously writing poetry and submitting it for publication in 1998. Since then, she has had 215 poems accepted or published in the U.S., Canada, India and England (hopefully Australia soon). Published poems have appeared in: Atlanta Review, Calyx, Connecticut Review, Main Street Rag, Nimrod, Phoebe and many other journals. Poems are forthcoming in: By&By, Caveat Lector, The Courtship of Winds, Medical Encounter, The Sacred Cow and Straylight. Her poem, “my face emerges from my face,” was second runner-up in the Spring 2010 contest issue of So to Speak. Her poem “carwash,” won the 2011 Betsy Colquitt Award for the best poem in a current issue of Descant, Fort Worth. Her two chapbooks, Accompanying Spouse (2011) and Chapter of Faults (2014), have both been published by Finishing Line Press and are available on Amazon. She is a member of The Poetry Club of Chicago.
Ball has has taught ESL at DePaul University in Chicago until recently. She lived in Australia for fifteen years with her Australian husband. Our two children, Geoffrey and Quentin, were born in Brisbane. She is a twin to Jean Helmken and a Franciscan nun for seven years. When not writing poetry, teaching ESL, working with her personal trainer, going to book group or traveling, she and her husband and like to cook for friends. These background experiences infuse her poetry.
RSS Feed