Calendar Matters
The time will come when arms transform
into swinging scales to balance our vertical
existence. Best memorize the gait, the deliberation
a step requires.
Best master the crabwalk for mornings on our own,
mimic the turtle’s teetering reliance on slide-pull/slide
and the snake’s low-belly work.
Tottering’s on the agenda, accompanied by downright
fear. The ground looms hard as coffins, slyly moves
away, like the traitor it is.
Risk is a foreign tongue. Rubber treads
accompany canes and, in case we forget,
our names on pieces of paper.
One pebble in the path unleashes an avalanche.
Avoidance becomes the ultimate goal, besides
surviving as far as the corner.
~ Myrna Garanis
Myrna Garanis is an Edmonton poet and essayist. She collaborated with four other Edmonton poets to produce Eyeing the Magpie from Five Magpie Press. The same group of collaborators will perform new work at Government House in Edmonton on september 30th at 3 p.m. during Alberta Culture Days.
Read more Myrna Garanis’ poetry here.
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