Sandra Salinas Newton

Being Old
 
No longer the cheerleader
Smiling so hard it hurts
Who twirls and somersaults
To gasps of delight
Nor the player on the field
Shrugging off pain and fatigue
Knowing only the taste of victory
Trailing glory.
 
My great delight today
Is to applaud the efforts of others
To be the cheering section
To yell with hoarse enthusiasm
To be cozy and secure
In the stands.
 


Sandra Salinas Newton is a Filipina-American professor emeritus of English. Her published works include introductory texts, fiction, and arts reviews. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Apricity Magazine, Brushfire, Cerasus, Decadent Review, Ekphrastic Review, Exchanges, Etched Onyx, Evening Street Review, Fauxmoir, Hawaii Pacific Review, Library Love Letter, Midwest Quarterly, Multiplicity, Native Skin, Neologism Poetry Journal, New Note Poetry, Oberon Poetry Journal 2021, OPEN: Journal of Arts and Letters, The Poeming Pigeon, Poetic Sun, Ponder Review, Provenance, Slab, Vita Brevis Press, Vultures and Doves, The Woolf, and Wrath-Bearing Tree.