Ice Skater

See the young ice skater sparkling in the rink

It’s her first competition; it must be hard to think.

Judges eyes stare into her despair,

As they debate on how well she'll fare.

She’s worked so hard for this day,

Practicing her routines for hours instead of going out to play.

Her long arms seem to shake,

As her legs propel her through this ice-covered lake.

The music starts, her heartbeat stops,

It all begins as she pushes and almost drops.

Exhilaration does not begin until she attempts to land her first jump

It’s hard to tell if she’s afraid of not landing it due to being plump.

She jumps into the air, she knows she has one chance

She has to land this if she hopes to advance!

She starts to twirl before she lands,

completing triple axels and triple toes as to satisfy the crowds' demands.

The crowd goes wild, judges applaud,

While the ice skater appears to be troubled and thinks the jump was flawed.

Her first jump done, the next begins,

this time a double jump of a name she forgets.

She believes it’s the Lutz,

but she cares not, for she almost stumbles and feels like a clutz.

Half-way done, she’s almost there,

now she feels ecstasy while leaping in the air.

Figure 8’s and Schalows makes her falter

She’s messed up the moves, but she has no time to alter.

The music slows, she slides to a stop,

Did she manage to make it to the top?

Bowing to the judges while her heart rate slows down,

She accepts red roses that litter the ground.

Away she slides to the sidelines,

Where here anxiety is causing her to hope she followed the judge’s guidelines.

Waiting anxiously with her coach,

Hoping the scores be good so she does not face reproach.

The scores are in, a total of 69.85! She can’t believe that it’s that high!

How many jumps did she fail?

How many slips caused her to flail?

Were the judges being nice?

Perhaps they thought her movements were precise.

She sits down in relief as she watches the next skater skate

A few hours would let her deflate.

Then the cycle will start all over,

As she’ll slide back out to dance on ice with renewed horror.