Dyskinesia

Uncontrolled, Involuntary muscle movement symptom of Parkinson's disease

Like a kite pillowed in air
coming and going
arms akimbo, legs askew
there you are after a long year.
My heart stops at the thought
that your body has abandoned you.
It wants to walk away and leave your
mind floating, as an errant kite tail
tethered to nothing
free flowing, dancing to the air
music paper and frame and wind.

You come toward me as best you can
and then backward
and then forward again, a smile
soft as a cumulus cloud,
to visit me here and mark your presence
flimsy and haphazard in the draft
of your skin and bones.

I see you in there among
the frivolous sails
whirling your way
in your body’s hurricane
trying so hard to act unconcerned
to be here with me
and carry on a conversation
as if nothing was happening.

Judge’s Comments:

One thing that can make a poem memorable is its subject, and I never expected to see a poem about dyskinesia, which is (as the poet tells us) ''uncontrolled, involuntary muscle movement" caused by Parkinson's disease." I found the metaphors of .kite, cloud, and whirlwind touchingly effective. I like the way the speaker is aware of the Parkinson's person's struggle and grants her (or him) a sort of victory in the end.