betrayed

he feels naked under the glare
of the bright yellow in which he
is cocooned

his costume, a lavish extravaganza
in elastic pink and elastic silver
makes him feel bare, exposed
and unprotected

he knows he was born for this stage,
but reality comes to him like a shock
of icy water

why hadn’t he been told about the
ugliness of the art he had deemed beautiful
and sacrosanct

behind the practiced vanity and confidence
that the audience sees in his face, the dancer
wears a frown.