The Benefits of 320 Kicks

Sixteen years of stiffness
ease into front-splits
right side and left.

“Now you’re showing off.”

The yielding body laughs.
It remembers
how much more
it once could do.

—

Recently, we’ve been doing a lot of limbering up and stretching in classes. During my adolescence, I took ballet lessons three times a week. Perhaps I was not as strong or physically fit, but I was much more supple. It surprises me at how the old flexibilities are returning. The disadvantage is every area that eases reminds my body of how pliant it was 16 to 18 years ago. People comment at how I must be showing off. Inside I remember how much more I could do, and how I was never quite good enough as a ballet dancer.

It’s interesting.

—

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