For M, Pirouette

Renée Nicholson

The depth of starlight is your heartbeat
squared, that series of entrechat-quatres
and passés. The arrow to the moon a leggy
line of penché, pointe shoe cleaving
harvest glow. Not quite clair de lune.

The high inner lines, perfectly refracting
shadows cast by écarté. The un-light until
you move again. Crescent moon:
over the smatter of fresh snowfall,
each tiny, crystalline glitter-orb.

One day you will witness
the vast, dark sky, wonder
at the twirling pinpoint of light,
that spinning self I’ve seen.

Renée K. Nicholson is assistant professor in Multi- and Interdisciplinary Studies at WVU, the author of Roundabout Directions to Lincoln Center and is co-editor of the anthology Bodies of Truth: Personal Stories on Illness, Disability, and Medicine.  She was awarded the Susan S. Landis award for Distinguished Service to the Arts in 2018. She is the 2019 Director of the West Virginia Writers Workshop at WVU.