Exercises in Energy
Laura Kochman
Several legs together bend pressure against the sand, brown hair a ground cover against the leg mostly bone, a hard long object. A group together. Out of control, the sand bank, building up. When a thing is repeated does it gain energy? Am I hearing the hoofbeats right, the rhythm in threes and where is the fourth leg? A force becomes a mystery. The gravity of so many legs together, the gravity of a low-slung belly rising potential tucked up concave over the hard poles a bascule behind us the jump with its legs crossed, casual. The following sections provide more detail.
Where a horse
is not a constant we cannot
assume our terms
we know the wood to be brittle
we know the paint to flake
the sand may swallow us between its grains
Where sand
is not a constant
the force acts on the object the object
becomes the force
with which we hold
ourselves together
Using the equation the equidistant the equine reason a mind reader is the specialty I become, the anxious hoof. There is nowhere to go but into the soft wood of the wall who knows it might be soft at least we’ll stop. We gather ourselves together. We accept the end of our trip, the slack and heavy lines. The following sections provide more detail.
A flying force contains
less potential energy than
a running force
contains
less than a riding
force where the equation has six variables. One: the gravitational
field. Two: the grass
is wet. Three: I am at the end
of my tether. Four: becomes the wooden board
balanced on the other wooden board.
Five: the backside
of every grain of sand
is sore.
Six: the quality of a sudden gesture
which is also the equation
Here the balance act begins. No I cannot. Yes you must. A hand becomes a line running down a leg becomes a thin wooden board. The action of bending has not yet been invented. I am a solid object. No you may not. If I in part become the force which is acting on tendon, I bend myself. It gains potential, elevated, the whole solid body on the weight of contented leaning and where is the fourth leg? A variable is missing from the equation. I and you and all our legs together and a safe distance away from a hurried moment. Here potential becomes kinetic. The following sections provide more detail.
If we assume a heavy hoof
tucked up against tendon
a hard curved cup holds
momentum
the ability to fall
A tired head is heavy on the chest
If we assume that we are in the same place at the same time
No you
may not let it fall
the wooden board topples
when we tap it
Sand assumes a position
Let me try this again
If we assume sand
hurry
If we assume hurry
I am the counterweight
When it falls from my hand
it gathers itself back
assumes shape
remembers energy exists with
respect to the body
LAURA KOCHMAN currently lives, writes, and feeds her cat in Philadelphia. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama, and is an assistant editor for Coconut Magazine. Her work can be found in recent issues of Ghost Proposal, MiPoesias, La Vague, Bayou Magazine, and others, and her chapbook, Future Skirt, was released from dancing girl press in the fall of 2013.