The Bones Walk Elsewhere
A Poem
Unhappiness crept up like cancer
Slowly, undetected. Like a stone
Dropped in water, its silent ripples
Spreading through my body. An
Apathetic ache softly pulses
Underneath my shoulder blades
Like snakes below boulders
Writhing quietly, unseen.
I wonder when it happened: the
Moment when my smile flattened,
Eyes fogged, began to match the
Features I’m enveloped by on crowded
New York trains — people who line
Subway cars like ghostly antique
Portraits behind museum glass, their
Faces painted tired and depleted.
During blood moons, I dream of
My youth. She is in college
In a beautiful land. She is in love
With the way trees’ branches
Angle toward the sky, unique
And expressive, like dancers’
Arms, like poised ballerinas.
She takes long walks, deep in the
Woods, a motionless cathedral on
Warm summer days. She angles
Her arms toward the sky,
Mirroring the branches of each
Tree she passes, much like a dancer, like
A poised ballerina. And in this way,
She dances alone. And in this way,
She is dancing with the world.
