If I didn’t have any knees
And my legs were straight
Stiff
Like boards that were never cut
And made into sail boats
And my feet cried up to the heavens
Or my hips
To make them move
And feel the switch of floor to air
Human
To bird
And back again
And my middle tried to be my bottom
But my bottom needed it to be my top
And my top was left behind to bob with my thoughts
And my parts were upside down,
My skin inside out
As I felt
Confused
I felt very
Very
Very vulnerable
Exposed
And those plank like legs that never bent
Unmasked
Looking at the others
Wondering how they turn I’s into V’s
Concentrating
Copy-Catting
Falling
Failing
Pity pattering over to me in Pointe shoes
That press the floor and leave it
Like a kiss
They have the toes I have
With my legs
In my tights
My shoes
My blood rushing too quickly
To wait for my heart
But without my knees
And my legs were straight
Stiff
Like boards that were never cut
And made into sail boats
I am not there
I am watching somewhere else
Sailing away
In a choppy sea
No beauty and no horror
Just static waves
Almost
Parallel
And it is on this sea
As I stroke
The curved bottom of the boat
Where I wish
The only
Straight line
Was the one
On my face