Going for Gold

by Alan S. Bridges and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Mariposa #48, Spring-Summer 2023, page 27. Originally written in January and February of 2018, via email.

sweeping

just enough to turn

a curling stone Alan

the hockey puck’s curve

wide of the net Michael

a penalty loop

for the missed target—

biathlon shooter Alan

ice spray—

the quadruple Salchow

half a rotation short Michael

losing a helmet visor

the luger flies blind Alan

wind-delayed downhill . . .

snow swirls

through the empty starting gate Michael