Building steam he lopes toward the jump line
then flies across the sand
landing in an easy squat
from which he rises gracefully
and calmly saunters off.
His father has sent a slow-motion video
which makes me think
the long jump a perfect sport
for this almost teen
this sweet grandson who begins
to find his beloved parents so trying,
a universal step of growing up
playing painfully through them all.
Once more I watch that moment aloft
arms and legs a gusting wind
all concentration on the airborne lunge.
I wish him such accomplished grace
right through the years to come
knowing that teenage limbs must flail
in the mighty leap toward self.


© by Signe Eklund Schaefer.
Used with the author’s permission.