Dying Swan
Have you ever watched
Maya Plisetskaya’s
Dying Swan?
I’ve never seen another ballerina’s
Arms
The way she moves them
Like waves
Rippling
Her fingers
Really like feathers
Then when she is dying
Finally
Her arms
Contorted
Shuddering at odd angles
Sticking out
Like broken spokes of a bicycle
As she collapses
Nose to the floor
Like a beak
Shivering for nourishment
Sometimes I feel the same
Strong beautiful legs
But crushed
Split between the need
To survive
And the agony
Of a heart
With wings
That aches
To be free.
