Patinage

This month’s poem is by Linda Dyson, and it is called ‘Patinage’.

Linda said:’ The poem was inspired by watching many outstanding ice dance performances on TV. My love of skating goes back to Torvill and Dean’s landmark performance to the music of Ravel’s Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics. This took place while my father was dying – a fact that made it particularly uplifting for me. I was finally able to see them perform it live a few years ago.

‘These days, the extremely complicated and daring routines we see executed by modern skaters often defy belief and the performers seem to be transformed into superhuman beings when they step out onto the ice. This fact led to the images in the poem which I gave a French title because it seems more elegant and magical than the Anglo-Saxon term skating.

‘At the end of the day, of course, the skaters are human beings just like us, a fact made all too apparent when they step back onto ‘dry land’ and have to walk in an ungainly fashion to their seats. Can we be transformed for a moment when we consider these magical routines? Perhaps only in our dreams….’

To read Linda’s poem click here