The Balance Beam

The Balance Beam

A Poem by Einstein Noodle
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picture by pinterest

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1920s Pine Balance Beam | Balance beam, Beams, Gymnastics
The Balance Beam

this night the Cheshire Cat moon is grinning 
low in my East horizon             the witching hour
beam spends its night waiting
never sleeping             silent it
keeps worn and time oiled skin 
warmed and waiting
like a Budhist Monk in meditation

how easy it use to be     lithe body     bold will
climbing aboard

i am old .... how am I expected
to mount once more the 4 inches 
like a cliche'

i use to stand stork like all day
without a tremor            
walking was a fresh breeze of spring
leaping splits, saltos and hand springs
all the apparatus working and silky

but this morning finds me       creaking
              cracking 
once more the limits of a falling body
....... i climb on board    do my job though
 
inside 
          
all the wobbling incapability 
has a mask and stink of fear
but

all goes quiet .. 
the glass pond ... 
the loon's cry
the lotus 
like the Monk

I would think I were dead 

if not for my own 

Cheshire

Cat 

grin.

10/16/2020
E. 


 

© 2020 Einstein Noodle


Author's Note

Einstein Noodle

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Featured Review

Wow an amazing way to tell of the changes as physical deterioration creeps into once well oiled bones. This has such a visual impact as you take the beam as your focus and your flow and word choice gives this an inevitable determined sadness. Bravo from one working out to try to stave off the knackers yard!

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

ahahaha yes .."stave of the knackers yard" for sure .. ahahahha i am larfing loud over that right no.. read more



Reviews

At least you can be a gymnast of the mind(hence your name Einstein of the South) and not the body and this poem shows how agile and great thinker you are. The poem was realistic and touching for we are all headed that way, waiting for our appointed day, but with hope of the afterlife. We do cherish those active stages of life that we lost. We do contemplate the lessons learned. You are imparting that to us as we speak sir.

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

thanks for reviewing Sami ... yep .. we are all headed in that direction aren't we ... the thing is .. read more
Sami Khalil

3 Years Ago

Hehehe. So true and well said. You are welcome sir.


these words were simply aching to be recognised and writ ... they have been aching for a while now, but shy .. it used to be that way for me too Gene ..

strong of arm and lithe of limb and with a sense of balance not just in the physical sense, but all ways ... and of course, as a registered kongo zen Buddhist monk myself, I know about such things .. No kiddin, dont it help tho' just a little to know you aint alone ...

Down ya neck buddy you just cracked the age thing here :))))



Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

yes it does sir ... and you ... a registered kongo zen Buddhist monk yer self .. i am humbled beyond.. read more
Neville

3 Years Ago


and I in turn am always happy to visit my friend .. down ya neck squire :)))))
This goes way beyond just musing about age and it is a cornocopia of beautiful lines that look as if they have existed as long as the component parts of the wooden beam.

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

you've made me day sir! thank you so much for taking time on my pages .. and all your helpful and en.. read more
Second time round Mr E, my last response got lost in the ether. That beam, represents youth to me and the peak of strength and fitness. I have long admired the efforts of gymnasts to perfect balance on such a narrow bar. And then I ponder on the passing years and reflect on how our bodies take a battering. Creaking bones and sore muscles all come with advancing years. So sad that as our knowledge and understanding of life increases, our physical health can fly out the window. Still, we have no say in the matter and have to learn to live with it and adjust. That Mr E is where you wonderful pen took me on a bright Saturday morning besides the ocean.

Chris

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

ahhhhhhhhhhh i hear the surf and taste the salt breeze .. so thank you sister :) yeah .. we get old .. read more
Chris Shaw

3 Years Ago

The ocean is wonderful, will be returning home tomorrow. Gymnasts have incredible discipline. They d.. read more
Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

:)............................
Nothing like the years to make one humble. Still, I liked the spirit with which the speaker continues to make the effort, for when we quit trying, real decline sets in. Try Tai Chi; it's much less demanding and still gets the job done.

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

ahahahah Tai Chi eh!? :))))))))))))))))))))))))) much safer too ... but yes! that's the thing isn't .. read more
I see a figurative balance beam...as I grow now into my 70's, I am striving to find a balance in my life...to feel that I have finally reached a point where things make sense, where I make sense, my life makes sense...my purpose as fulfilled as I could make it...
the bones of being start aching for answers.

j.

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

wow! i love how you put that jacob .. the bones of being start aching for answers ... you stayed in .. read more
You've captured the thing that torments me more than anything else. It's a b***h to not be able to prance nimbly like I used to. As always, you pick one of my all-time favorite tunes to emphasize how f****n' long it's been since I wuz young & nimble, dancing to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" . . . the crescent you open with is, of course, the lead-in to a blue moon (second full moon in October) . . . positioned provocatively between the harvest moon & the blue moon, so I was very much into your alluring opening about that particular crescent. Anyhow, back to the gripes & groans of old fart syndrome . . . I love your inventive, sparkling way of comparing youth to being able to run amuck on a balance beam . . . that's a killer attack of symbolism, my friend, making me feel the ache of absence all the more intensely! I try not to whine about my constant all-over pain & I wish I could express it as artfully as you have (for me, it comes out like a big endless whine, so I just don't go there!) Thank you for sharing this fresh whiff of whine (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

i feel you Margie ... and you can whine dine with me any time
First, thank you so much for writing and sharing this poem. Second, thanks for addressing a universal issue that is particular to me. Third, thank you for your expertise in writing. This poem was so very well crafted as to be seamlessly acceptable to the reader's mind. Good on you.

Nit: Is it use or used?

Posted 3 Years Ago


Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

i appreciate your input Delmar ... thank you for taking time ... you are very kind and generous my f.. read more
Delmar Cooper

3 Years Ago

Always a pleasure to read your work.
Oh, you are far from dead, E.....you walk that balance beam like a pro. We all feel the changes in our bodies and our stamina as we age, but that is life....it is a natural progression, isn't it? If we can balance the changes, those snaps and crackles of the bones are just the background music of our days. No need to adjust and accept the changes....embrace them. It is the circle of life and you have drawn a vivid landscape of that here. Wonderful write. Lydi**

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

ohhhhh dear Lydia my friend! i am so happy you feel me in this one .. very gratifying for me indeed!.. read more
Wow an amazing way to tell of the changes as physical deterioration creeps into once well oiled bones. This has such a visual impact as you take the beam as your focus and your flow and word choice gives this an inevitable determined sadness. Bravo from one working out to try to stave off the knackers yard!

Posted 3 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Einstein Noodle

3 Years Ago

ahahaha yes .."stave of the knackers yard" for sure .. ahahahha i am larfing loud over that right no.. read more

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Added on October 16, 2020
Last Updated on October 20, 2020

Author

Einstein Noodle
Einstein Noodle

Pork Rind, AK



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This morning as I began to log in to WC, it occurred to me what an inspiring and comfortable place this has become for me. There are so many talented people sharing, encouraging, teaching and learni.. more..

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