Rocket Feet

In the endless emptiness of summer break, 
I slip out to McNabb skatepark, 

where older kids dangle feet off quarter-ramps, 
cold sodas buzzing in their hands, caps turned backwards, 

listening to skateboards rattling on crumbling asphalt, 
the frenetic drumbeat of juvenile freedom. 

Eyes gravitate to a newcomer, oversized tee 
billowing on a lanky frame, 

cutting across the park with long, joyous strides 
like a ballerina’s saut de chat leaps.

He flips off a flat rail, 
propelled by his rocket feet, 

and his shadow shrinks as he shrugs off gravity, 
spacewalking for one ponderous heartbeat. 

Time only remembers itself 
when his feet clap the ground.

© Ian Li