The Regimen

It’s a hot day, a very hot day,

but it’s time to swing my weights

up fast, slow down, each side

from waist to shoulder

then from shoulder to overhead

(don’t let them meet in the middle)

up and down alternately

in front of the body, seated

curling up to the shoulder, seated too,

then forward and back, on one knee

always five times each side, each set;

count ten seconds, repeat

remembering, you can go up fast,

but bring them down very slow

finally put them aside, and bend

arm over head, twice, left and right

hold each bend for fifteen seconds

and feel the stretch in the bending hip.

Do this every other day.

On alternate days, go for a walk.

I’ve always walked, on and off,

but the weight training is new.

After my mother fell and broke her hip

she never went home again.

My bones, I’m told, are brittle

but I’m not yet ready to break from life.

Also I now keep my mobile

attached, in pocket or bum-bag.

Don’t want an agonising crawl to the phone

like hers. But I’m living alone, like her.

31 Poems in 31 Days (Poewar / Writer's Resource Center). Prompt: Use an inspirational tool from this list:

Call a friend and talk about old times
Collaborate with another poet
Exercise
Give yourself a deadline
Give yourself permission to write badly
Go someplace new
Interview yourself
Just start writing anything that comes to mind as fast as you can
Listen to your favorite music
Look at old photographs
Meditate
Read a magazine or a newspaper
Read someone else’s poetry
Read your own poetry
Review your old work
Start with a title
Take a swim, bath or a shower
Take a walk
Try another medium such as drawing or painting
Try something new

(Obviously, I exercised.)