drop in from the platform, speed across the flat, rise
up the transition, turn backside into a fifty-
fifty grind across the coping, pump for speed
slide into a rock and roll, hold the pose for half
a second before turning into the drop, zoom
backwards and forwards across the half-pipe balancing
in motion, turn frontside and backside, slash-grind
the coping, boardslide the width of the ramp, pop
frontside ollies, kickflip to fakie, increase velocity
grab air, land on the transition, avert disaster
axle stall and pause for two beats, invert to handplant
boost with the left foot into boneless, become motion
embrace the rush, push a backside air too far, botch
the landing, wipe out, hipslide into the back fence
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Nathanael O’Reilly is an Irish-Australian poet residing in Texas. His books include Boulevard, (Un)belonging, Preparations for Departure and Distance. His poetry, published in fourteen countries, appears in journals and anthologies including Anthropocene, Bealtaine, Cordite, The Elevation Review, Mascara, New World Writing, and Westerly. He is the poetry editor for Antipodes: A Global Journal of Australian / New Zealand Literature.
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C. R. Resetarits is a writer and collagist. Her collage art has appeared on the covers and in the pages of dozens of magazines and book covers.
Another Chicago Magazine 