Never Perfect

• Gabrielle Coard, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2009

My muscles are coiled as if they are springs,
Tense and powerful they release their raging hold,
And I go flying.

My mind is set
I do what I have to do,
Turn, pike, roll, turn, straighten, stretch hands,
Splash!

That’s the problem
“I told you! Flatten your hands!”
My coach is a hawk,
Sees everything, feels everything, knows everything.

They’re useless and in the way,
Fingers are too long,
Palms too wide,
Too much splash

I can feel them as well
Always so heavy
Weighing me down just like a thousand kilos.

I have so much to concentrate on,
Toes, legs, stomach, shoulders,
I’ve got it perfectly,
Just not my hands

I ascend back up, it’s natural for me,
Right leg step, slight pressure
Left leg leap, my muscles are coiled,
Legs together, head up, spring
And I go flying.

Turn, pike, roll, turn, straighten,
Stretch hands.
Splash!