Poem October 26, 1981 ISSUE

Perfect balance

ELIZABETH BEAM

Wanting to skate through life,I took to my blades.I found my centerBalancing around me easy-slide assuranceWith intermittent sleek strokes.Round and round, alone,Me and my shadow and skates,When out-of-nowhere small boyBy chance, darting too close, disturbed equipoise.It brought no fall, only quiet smiles,And he was off, leaving me to ask,"Are we our brothers' balance-keeper?"From this babelike event,My focus changed.Already a lesson learned, ripening,As vision converged toward God, Life, as center.

This center impels stability for all,Keeping each tall, even in the deranged shadeOf mortal crash.Life—our Life, shared—shows usBeyond-a-doubt grace,All cursory slickness gone.Expressed among us,God-centered actionCreates illuminated fearless moves,Slips past the shadow of many centers,And reconciles the day.

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