Thursday, August 2, 2012

Make It or Break It

Today as I cleaned-up heaps of papers scattered around the office I discovered a folder with Morgan's name on it. Inside was a whole year's worth of writing assignments that she never bothered to share with her parents (probably because she knew her mom would embarrass her by gushing and even shedding a little tear). Growing up my my mom always told my siblings and I that the best present we could ever give her was the gift of our writing. I couldn't agree more. This folder was indeed a gift. Here is my favorite (coincidentally well-timed with the Women's Olympic gymnastics competition coming up tonight):

Make It or Break It
By Morgan 4/25/2012 (7th Grade)

I stand and wait as I hear familiar voices
Shouting my name.
I look at the four-inch beam
Wondering ho I have the courage each day
To trust my arms to support the weight of my body,
And trusting my hands to find the beam,
After flying four feet in the air.
I wipe my sweaty palms on my thighs,
Impatiently waiting for the dreaded salute.
I breathe deeply and close my eyes slowly,
Trying to calm myself down.
Quickly, I say a prayer in my head
Asking for confidence and strength.

The judges organize their notes,
Take a deep breath,
Smile at me,
Then one of them raises her hand in the air.
"Morgan?" she calls out.
I shoot her a fake smile
And salute.
I let my mind relax,
And let my body do what it does most:
Gymnastics.

I begin with the mount.
Heart racing,
Palms sweating,
Muscles shaking.
Switch leap to a straddle jump-
Stuck.
Toe turn-
Stuck.
Here comes the flight.
Back-handspring, back-handspring-
Connected, though a slight wobble at the end.
Split jump to a three quarter jump-
Stuck it.
My round-off to layout dismount
Is what stands between success and me.
I take in a whiff of cool air
And begin my run.
I hurdle,
Lay my hands on the beam,
And hope my feet don't slip off.
Clearly, my feet made it on because now I am off the beam
And flying in the air.
I prepare for the squishy landing.
My feet find the ground and stay there.
I stuck it.
I smile to myself,
For I know that I did a great routine.
I lift my chest and give the judges a real smile and salute.
They smile back at me,
And quickly consult with each other to find the right score to describe my routine.
I walk back to my team with a huge grin on my face.
I give my coaches and teammates big hugs
As they tell me how well I did.
I sit down and patiently wait for my score-
Though I don't care because in my mind I already got a 10.0

2 comments:

Angela said...

Would it embarrass Morgan too much to know that Aunt Angela is also shedding a tear? Do we all take after our mom, or what? That was a beautiful poem! So glad you posted!!

Angela said...

Would it embarrass Morgan too much to know that Aunt Angela is also shedding a tear? Do we all take after our mom, or what? That was a beautiful poem! So glad you posted!!