Circles

I used to skate in circles I was afraid the pond couldn't carry me Others danced around me Past my corner of the pond Did they think of me often? I thought of them in constance I thought of the man that put me there Brought me to practice upon its' ice With him, I learned to skate in that little circle I felt so proud and accomplished He beamed as he watched me In our little corner of the pond He told me to wait there He'd come back to teach me more How to become like him Dashing and dancing cross the shimmering pond I waited and watched and waited again His promise worth the snow, the hunger, the pain I dreamt of riding the frozen ripples His hand in mine To make grand figure eights Others in awe of our sight To be taught to trust my own movements The grounds under these bladed feet Never once did I see him As I looked through the turreted, swarming snows I saw boys and girls with familiar smiles Have their fathers teach them to skate Their hand in his The sheets of ice that carried them Even when the ice became jagged and unsure For he had seen it once before When his father taught him years ago How to make unafraid figure eights in the snow I used to skate in circles Watching the children as they played Someone watching over their shoulder just in case But now they are growing I guess I am too They no longer need the comfort Of a larger hand in theirs They come with what they've learned A sureness in the sweep of their blade And one day will pass on to their own What the pond gave them so long ago I haven't returned in two winters But I'll always know where to find it To the pond that I'd waited him to return Time and time before... Watching shadows in the snow I often think of the children I wonder if they ever think of me With my place no longer the circles As a youth, I had once been