Linda A. Cronin

LIKE FEATHERS, LIKE WINGS

Defying physics and gravity, I too danced
in a man's arms. We swirled on the clouds,
before the warped bones, before walking
to the bed became a two-man shuffle,
the attendant holding my body upright,
supporting my weight, while my legs stutter
their way across the room.

But now I dream
I dance all night. But alone,
the way I must face my death. I spin
through the blue of innocence
and longing.
A pirouette on point,
a pas de chat.
When I stop dancing,
when I realize I lie trapped in this bed,
I wonder if when death arrives,
will I simply pirouette
into the beyond?

Linda A. Cronin is a poet, editor and freelance writer. Dream Bones (WordTech Editions) is her first published collection of poems. She is a member of the Breath & Shadow editorial staff in poetry and often writes freelance articles on health and wellness for magazines. Through poetry writing, she found a way to express her voice and to describe life with a chronic, disabling disease, rheumatoid arthritis. Her work has appeared in literary magazines such as The Paterson Literary Review, Wordgathering, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, The Healing Muse, Rattle, Kaleidoscope and LIPS. For more information on Linda or Dream Bones, visit www.lindacronin.net