One Of A Kind

• Jackie Lazar, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2010

The day starts out hot; searing, above-forty,
makes-you-want-to-visit-the-freezer-section-of-the-supermarket
hot.
Blanket-heavy sky, dark.
Mum prances at the water’s edge, little hands clutching weights,
cap pulled low over zinc-caked cheeks,
framing her tightly clenched teeth.

The sky weeps torrents of tears,
but mum pads on regardless, stubborn as a mule.
Her body’s tight as a drum, and she beats like one too.
The tempo’s faster than some people enjoy;
she’s not fond of resting.

Night falls. The pace slows.
When mum tucks me in it’s her smell that settles me.
Like a new baby’s skin.
Expensive.