Featured in the 2022 Spring Issue of Rambunctious
Exhaustion as a Dance Anka Chiorini, '23 Exhaustion. My love, My dearest, My constant companion. I can only think of you. All day, all night, You. You occupy my thoughts And dance through my head, Your million-color ballet overwhelms my brain. You glissade from thought to thought, Pointed feet leading you through my life. I am entranced by Your pirouettes and fouettes and piques, Wrapped up in your Port de bra, circling around my head. Sometimes you dance fast, A petite allegro: Changement Changement Echappe battu Soussu Splash down finish. Other times slow Like a develope or a rond de jamb en l'air, Lifting me up and away on your rising appendage. Then, Your dance becomes ours, As I take your hand and join you in A cosmic pas de deux. You lift me in swan dives and pas de chat. I plie as you releve, Placing your hands on my waist and giving me a gentle push forward. Chasse Step step Pique Plie Chasse back... Tour jete! Your strong hands lift me into the sky as I leap. You take my hand again and guide me through A slow promenade, Holding my leg in a perfect arabesque As you lead me around in a slow Slow Slow circle. Then down to the ground in a soft plie, Where my tired, Worn out limbs find their rest, Our day-long dance finally done, Reverence completed, Curtain dropped. I know When I wake tomorrow morning, The first thing my eyes will settle on Will be your dance. Tomorrow, You’ll add a royale here, A flourish of the arms there, But the dance will remain mostly untouched, Our pas de deux, As beautiful and intimate as ever As you guide me through our perfected piece, Leading me through my life with chasses And pirouettes, Your strong hands familiar on my hips, A lone constant in the ever changing world. My love, My dearest, My constant companion. Exhaustion.