Slipping and sliding,
that was what I was practicing
as I drove my car home.
The street, an ice rink,
especially designed for the two of us
after the freezing rain fell.
We weren't speed skaters,
out pumping our arms,
racing around the track,
but going on our own pace,
not trying to come in first,
or last place.
And we weren't ones trying out
as a competitive figure skater,
doing any flips or spins,
the toe loop jump, the flip jump,
or any of the backward moves,
glad to be boring, going only forward,
trying the basics of agility, balance,
and coordination, knowing we weren't
trying to win a national championship.
Our only concern, bringing
the two of us back safely,
a task we skillfully managed.
Non-Olympic Event by Duane Anderson | Pink Peony Poetry Reed Diffuser Set
Duane Anderson currently lives in Olathe, Kansas in the United States. He has had poems published in Fine Lines, Cholla Needles, and several other publications. He is the author of ‘On the Corner of Walk and Don’t Walk,’ ‘Conquer the Mountains,’ ‘Family Portraits,’ ‘The Life of an Ordinary Man,’ and ‘In the Eyes Of.’
