Poem for a Hot Day

[Jerry Green]

HANGING OUT By Jerry Green

The ladders at Ives Pool
Are shiny chrome P shapes
Hanging out over the edge
Used mostly just for
Getting in and getting out.
I hang out there;
Before getting out.

I grip them in various places,
Hanging ape-like, stretching
my calves on the steps
that protrude from their
pockets in the wall.
I stand on one forefoot,
brace that arm, and hang.
Opening my hips and chest
Before acclimating into gravity.
These ladders were designed
By a yogi-ergonomist who worked
With acrobats and learned from Ida Rolf.

They exist, yet they feel unseen.
They are mostly used just for getting in
and getting out. Hmmm….