Balance

By Mary Ellen Talley

I try to stand balanced on one foot  

to the count of one hundred.

Granted, I make an unsightly stork.

The stork once brought me two babies

and I try to balance my schedule 

that they may know how useful

balance is. I used to agonize

over balancing our checkbook,

but now all is online and I check

our running balance. I don’t run

on hiking trails anymore, not only

for the sake of balance                                

but because my knees have expended  

their youth. I use my eyes

to keep balance when I scan

for knobby roots or uneven

sidewalks. These days, mental balance

competes with what is grave

as well as gravity’s call. I march

with thousands of citizens

who want to restore balance

to America. We march on and on

with pithy signs

extolling our need to reclaim virtue.

I use my husband’s arm if I begin

to weave as we walk behind

signs that are smart and some

that are rude. The best was, well,

too difficult to choose. So many

clever cardboard signs

and artistic renderings that echoed

all our sentiments, like “Melt ICE”

and “The Only King I Honor

is a Salmon.”  Some folks protested

in costumes and one woman

dressed as a clown, carrying

a sign saying “Clowns Against

Fascism” stole my heart

and let me photograph her.

I took photos of these upright citizens

for they still give me solace

and because there can never

never be enough of someone

like my dancer granddaughter

standing stork-like in her kitchen

with a stability I call magic.

I mostly wish for mental balance

for those I love as well

as for my nation, because, well,

I’m lucky to have medical

reassurance and my provider

sent me a prevention of falling

handbook that reminds me

of our constitution, and to take

a daily constitutional.

It is recommended that we do

some hill or stair climbs

to give us stress to manage.

I take my heart up concrete   

amphitheater steps but scan

to retain my balance.

Mary Ellen Talley’s poems have appeared in many journals including Louisville Review, Deep Wild, and Trampoline as well as in multiple anthologies. Her chapbooks are: “Postcards from the Lilac City” from Finishing Line Press, “Taking Leave” from Kelsay Books, and “Infusion” online at Red Wolf Journal. She resides in Seattle, WA and worked for many years as a school-based speech/language pathologist (SLP) in Federal Way and in Seattle. Her website iswww.maryellentalley.com.