Poem: "Teaching the Body"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the May 11, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired and sponsored by janetmiles.

Teaching the Body

These are the things the body forgets
when the mind wanders,
when gravity crushes bone to earth --

the slow dance of balance,
a fine line poised between ground and sky

the intricate mechanism of walking,
heel-toe, heel-toe, knee-bend and hip-swing

the involution of fingers to fist,
grasp locked by the thumb's sturdy bar

the invisible communication of hand and eye,
calculating position, speed, pressure, intent --

so many things, a lifetime of learning,
held in the twin bowls of brain and will,
so easily spilled on the slick floor of history.

A physician can only show the body where to heal.
It takes a physical therapist to teach the body
how to respond to the mind, and to remind the spirit
how to use the fragile, beautiful machine in which it lives.