i have never been graceful or athletic

i did not go to ballet or participate in gymnastics
i feigned so many illnesses to avoid phys ed 
embarassed i could not climb a rope
or jump the horse or hit a ball

i would watch with awe and envy 
my friends as they did backflips and cartwheels 
and pick at the grass as i watched them climb trees
their agility something that always escaped me

i still wish i could do a cartwheel
but i’m quite sure i’d break one of these old bones
yet… i still wish i could do just. one. cartwheel.