Two Truths and a Lie

©2006 Gail Grenier Sweet

One afternoon I rode an elephant in a circus
but I couldn’t rock my pelvis
front and back
and front and back
like the sexy circus women riders in their
swimsuit costumes and fishnet tights –

I held on with two hands and tried not to fall off as the beast jerked along,
but once, just once for a second,
I shot one arm up and waved
to my husband and three kids and one neighbor kid
sitting in the bleachers.

If they only knew the truth about me --  
that when I was a child,
I could fly….

…. One afternoon,
Peggy Potter and her big brother Randy
and Karen Schemer and my little brother Danny
and his buddies Dennis and Dale Stouber
all stood around me in a
circle in the basement,
watched me climb up onto a chair,
watched me stand straight, arms out,
watched me lift off….

I buzzed over their heads,
flying low,
swooping under copper pipes,
around light bulbs,
past the clothes chute suspended from
the ceiling.
Considering the cramped surroundings,
it was a great ride,
and a bit show-offy

I wanted to be show-offy
that day in the circus
but I was all grown up
and had learned to be modest.

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