"First Skating Party" by Joseph Mills

 The Nampa Roller Drome, Nampa, Idaho,

where I learned how to skate in the years 1956 to 1960, aged 7 to 11.

Dozens of kids circle

the worn wooden floor

on old rental skates,

and none of them wear

helmets or pads,

so when they collide

or fall or stop themselves

by the simple technique

of steering straight

into the cinder-block barrier,

you can feel the pain

of the parents

who watch from booths

by the concession stand;

they know their children

have bones of balsa

and skin that tears

as easily as a napkin,

but they can do nothing

except yell, Be Careful!

and make hand gestures

to slow down

                             —Slow Down!—

as the ones they love

strobe past them

faster and faster

just beyond their reach.

"First Skating Party" by Joseph Mills from The Miraculous Turning. © Press 53, 2014.