Balance
Summer's over, I'm moving on,
the shuddering pans of the scale subside.
I didn't fail, I was right on time,
the perfect balance is undisturbed
by the angst still elbowing on either side.
I'm done with weighing and being weighed. Goodbye!
I soar like a balloon a child let fly.
The little void I held inside
opens into sky.
Joy Ladin is the author of six books of poetry, including last year's The Definition of Joy, Lambda Literary Award finalist Transmigration, and Forward Fives award winner Coming to Life. Her memoir, Through the Door of Life, was a 2012 National Jewish Book Award finalist. Her work has appeared in many publications, including American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Southern Review, Southwest Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and North American Review, and has been recognized with a Fulbright Scholarship. She holds the David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College of Yeshiva University.
