Autumn Migration

Throw up your dinner at the break.
Beside all the gawking starlings
in the bathroom, you’re a macaw,
fuchsia stripes and ruby slashes,
but under the stadium lights
you look healthy.  Rub Vaseline
on your teeth so your painted lips
slip into smiles.  On the field
the minutes march away until
the band cranks up Louie Louie
as the players depart to pray
and you count into position

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight . . .

When you feel the base’s hands grip
your hips, you stop hearing music,
the crowd rumbles away.  You bend,
his fingers pinch your waist until
he raises you up in the air
like a falconer. Your feet rest
in his hands for a four count, then
you stick it, right foot in your palm
and left foot gripped hard in his hands.
You squeeze your cheeks until your thigh
becomes a rod of hardened steel
pinch a penny, pinch a penny, pinch a penny
Even from this distance you look
in the eyes of parents, stoners
and old graduates in the bleachers
and see them bound to the earth,
their bulk absolute and leaden.
Out of the corner of your eye
you see the other flyer tossed
like a released homing pigeon.
She comes out of her tuck, touches
her pointed toes, then swan dives down.
Later, she will tell you about
seeing, over the crowd and past
the bleachers, the long line of cars
on University.  Eight counts
left, but his hands begin to shake.
One count early you feel him bend
his knees, propelling you airborne.
You twist into a perfect V
and ride down into the cradle.
Pop out of his arms, wave in time
with the waning beats of the song.
Only some have bones light enough to fly.

Notes on Autumn Migration:  Early in my teaching career I was arm-twisted into being a cheerleading coach.  I spent 3 years with 55 girls and 7 boys shepherding them to games and competitions.  They were awesome and the pace was grueling.  I learned to catch a falling body in mid-air and finally understood physics.  This poem is structured with 8 beats per line – because that’s the count in cheerleading.  And in case you’re wondering – the picture is a layout and you should be pretty impressed at how far below the hands are waiting to catch her.