Dewalt, Phillip

Hatfield, Jessica

English

Digital Commons @ Butler University

To my legsI foolishly tested you in my childhoodOne of you could not take it, and so gave way,sent me crashing down in an unnatural heap of odd angles.You look complete now,seven years later.You are strong, and impressively slim.My beauty is secured in you.Women and men alike, pay you complimentsbut they do not know your internal struggles.How you ache in the cold and damp,How you hate confinementHow you crunch and violently protest stairs, and runningHow you used to be praised for your strength in competition.You and shoulders were a team that won many ribbons and trophies,long since forgotten.You have been neglected for so long,the middle child of my body.For this you may rebel and someday become a useless burden.And if that day should come, I will mourn for you.I will cry out the deepest sorrows from my soul,not for the loss of beauty, but simply becauseYour are the legs on which I stand.-Jessica HatfieldBrussels, Belgium #1Walk two blocks south of the Grand Place andOn the corner of Rue du Chene and Rue de l'EtuveYou'll find a small fountain that mesmerizesNewcomers and makes a good franc in trinkets.It is called the Manneken Pis,But I call it the Man Who Can Pee,And what's wrong with that?This small statue of a boy pissingInto a fountain that never overFlows with a stream that neverRuns dry (what do you suppose heDrank) is not embarrassed. This smallBoy just smiles to the tourists.-Philip Dawalt

To my legs / Brussels, Belgium #1

https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4147&amp;context=manuscripts

To my legs / Brussels, Belgium #1

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Digital Commons @ Butler University