La Plagne

[moniquejade]

Jacques was the ski instructor
fluidly dancing with the snow
so we followed this graceful leader
with ambiguous English:
“To fall is not necessariee..
but you can to playe..”
on rickety lifts,
our heavy skiis dangling
higher and higher
hale pieces pelting forward
each one stinging my face
then melts
rolling back into the wind
impossible to see anything but obscuring yellow
the tint of my cheap goggles
blindly moving in the stark nothingness
trusting my body, my balance
“ok! we schuss!” faster and faster
Legs parallel
knees soft over snow dunes
and then through white canals
speed increasing
digging in to the slippery ice
shaving it with my blades
freezing but fire on the inside-burning small
adreniline beating
somewhere between my heart and stomach
when the evening lights of the Chalets
make the heavy branches glow
I knew I found my sporting niche

copyright (c) monique anderson Sep 05