Jessica
I’m fessing up: I’m off prompt this week, for Read Write Poem’s celebrity prompt. However, I have a really good excuse.
Earlier this week, I wrote a post where I used the phrase: “favoring the good leg.” In the comments, Dana from Read Write Poem suggested that I write a poem using that phrase as the title. Never one to back down from a challenge, I began thinking about what this phrase really means. And the following poem draft resulted.
Favoring the Good Leg
I treat her like the good daughter, leaning
on her with all my weight. I know
she can bear me, she
who bends without breaking
and patiently assumes
more than her share. Sure,
she whines when I climb stairs and she burns
with exertion at every extra step,
but each day she grows thicker
and stronger. She hardens
under my added pressure. I know
her sibling is suffering, know
it shrivels daily beneath
my lowered expectations. I watch
their transformations together.
These twins, they trade weight,
heavy and light, in uneven
shuffles. They limp and stomp.
With each tremble and lock step,
they whisper to me, in unison:
Here is how you invite
our atrophy and waste.
