There is menace <br />in its relentless course, round and round, <br />describing an ellipsoid, <br />an airy prison in which a young girl <br />is incarcerated. <br /> <br />Whom will she marry? Whom will she love? <br />The rope, like a snake, <br />has the gift of divination, <br />yet reveals only a hint, a single initial. <br />But what if she never misses? <br /> <br />Is competence its own reward? <br />Will the rope never strike her ankle, <br />love's bite? The enders turn and turn, <br />two-handed as their arms tire, <br />their enchantments exhausted. <br /> <br />It hurts to watch her now, <br />flushed and scowling, <br />her will stronger than her limbs, <br />her braids lashing her shoulders <br />with each small success. <br /> <br /> <br />Submitted by Venus<br /><br />Connie Wanek<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/jump-rope/
