homage to my legs

With thanks to Lucille Clifton

these legs are long legs.
they need room to
stretch out in.
they can’t cram into 
small spaces. these legs
are strong legs;
they’ve never been broken.
these legs are pretty legs—

these legs move boats.

these legs know
the pain of two thousand meters.
they don’t rush. they’re
smoooth up the slide as if the tracks
were coated with butter.
they’re patient. they wait
for the boat to come
to them. and they don’t slam
the front end; they
land with the softness
of a butterfly’s beating wings.

Sarah C. Beckmann is a current MFA candidate at Emerson College (Boston, MA). As an undergraduate, Sarah walked on to the women's crew team at Trinity College (CT), fell in love with the sport, and has been writing about it ever since. She now lives in Boston, where she is a member of Union Boat Club on the Charles River and has the opportunity to continue rowing; she also works at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge. Her work has been published previously on the Academy of American Poets website.