GRACE

WIL MEACHAM,—BRUNSWICK, MAINE

Downtown Brunswick, the green is flooded every winter for skating, and when the cold sets in enough to make good ice, families begin to appear. Every year, young skaters again watch older brothers, sisters. They hold tightly the hand that's helping, but eagerly try the blades to make them their own. The grace of teaching and learning, Love's embrace, warms the scene for all. It's a joy to capture and appreciate such breakthrough moments.

I took this photo one crisp January morning, and was later moved to express my thoughts in this poem:

Beginning to skate,

Eager to learn grace,

We clasp hands

Long, it seems, before we glide.

And how the hand that holds

Loves our daring strides.

Gentleness shapes

Our eagerness to succeed,

And as hands release

We hesitate.

Then beam!