poetry 20 : without looking where, she lets go.

April 20, 2010 in Uncategorized

Watching Nina bowl

The guys in the next lane are all biceps and beer, 
their eyes on the prize of a night's high score. 
They fling the ball toward the pins as if the lane was mere afterthought, 
an inconsequential distance toward the meat of their destruction. 

Nina cuts a slight figure in the evening's lineup. 
The ball looks so heavy in her hands. When she steps up 
to the starting line, her knees are unsteady, shoulders quivering. 

Watching Nina bowl, I see it takes all her weight just to hang on, 
and she does, and what happens next is a triumph over the scoreboard entirely, 
that terrible, blistering need for perfection. Without looking where, she lets go.

–Maya Stein

Would that we could triumph over the scoreboard entirely, that terrible, blistering need for perfection. And without looking where, let go.

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.