Wednesday Nights

sometimes you come out of the hack leg pushing
slide through rings and let the rock glide upon
a thin layer of water
in a perfect curve to its resting place
where you wanted to end up

sometimes the push-off is unsteady
and you need to lean heavily
on the rock as you regain
balance
losing valuable momentum and
messing with your aim
and the polished granite
misses its mark

sometimes it is time for a shake-up
and you swing stone back
and push with force
letting go early to create more momentum
the shot staying straight and true
until there is contact and a new outlook

sometimes the plan is wrong
and even though your aim is
perfect
the result is poor

sometimes the shot is so delicate
like an arctic flower
yellow and white
that one twitch will
cause wreckage

and sometimes the sliding stone
will pick up a hair or lint and
not even make it to the other
side twirling uncontrollably to
the side boards

but always there are the sentries who travel beside
ready to influence the speed and trajectory
with the hopeful sweep