Perfect Form
Rent from DeepDyve- Perfect Form
North Charleston, South Carolina, April 4, 2015
Walter Scott must have been a track athletebefore serving his country, having children:
his knees were high, elbows bentat 90 degrees as his arms pumpedclose to his sides, back straight and head upas each foot landed in front of the other.Too much majesty in his last strides.
So much depends on instinct, ingrainedlegacies and American pastimes.Relays where everyone on the team winsremain a dream. Olympic arrogance,black men chased for sport—heat after heatof longstanding, savage racesthat always finish the same way.
My guess is Walter Scott ran distancesand sprinted, whatever his life eventsrequired. Years of training and techniqueare not forgotten, even at 50. Even after beingtased out of his right mind. Even in perilthe body remembers what it has beentaught, keeping perfect formduring his final dash. [End Page 23]
Kamilah Aisha Moon’s work has been featured in Harvard Review, jubilat, The Awl, and Poem-a-Day of the Academy of American Poets. She has been selected as a New American Poet presented by the Poetry Society of America, a Pushcart Prize winner, and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Moon is the author of She Has a Name (Four Way Books). She holds an mfa from Sarah Lawrence College.
