From the Wings
thousands know
the gratifying dazzle
of the panorama
and the intimate tremor
of the solo and the pas de deux
from the comfort
of the darkened house
but few can view
the rapid pleasures
that I can see
from the darkened wings
I stand back stage
through the performance
and, while I work,
I watch
And have only
some inches of vertical light
a pillar of color
between black curtains
by which to catch
my instances
to cherish;
two disembodied hands
flicking into sight
for a caress,
then ascending,
dovelike;
the sudden escape
of a profile head
from the barricade
of cloth
to pose,
listening;
the flash
of the danseur’s foot
passing through
his à la seconde;
and last and best,
that instant
when the ballerina runs
to prepare
for her next onslaught –
runs to the back
with a sweep
of her arms
and a head
refusing to lose hold
of her audience;
so she draws
them with her;
so she draws
me with her
and then, to the
surging accompaniment
of applause
she leaps,
bursting
into the wings
where I stand
some say
they pity me;
they say,
“ah! but you miss
the total beauty,
the line,
the tour de force,
the lift,
the height
of the grand jeté!”
ah! but what I keep
is more
than what they
ever will;
my instances,
though few,
will stay,
better than
an entire variation
will,
in my mind’s eye
I get to see
the choicest instances,
the most beautiful nuance
I get to see her
finish that endless
closing leap
and feel the force of it
as I catch her
to stop her
before she reaches
the wall
and I get to see her
pant like a human
and smile
a real smile
when things
have gone well
-
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Maude Larke has come back to her own writing after working in the American, English and French university systems, analyzing others’ texts and films. She has also returned to the classical music world as an ardent amateur, after fifteen years of piano and voice in her youth. Publications include Bird’s Eye reView, Naugatuck River Review, Cyclamens and Swords, riverbabble, Doorknobs and BodyPaint, Sketchbook, Cliterature, Short, Fast, and Deadly, and The Centrifugal Eye.
