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Monday's Poem




© 2011 Karen Ouellette

The poetry of KAREN P. OUELLETTE is influenced by years of ballet studies and by her work with the disabled. She is published in Kaleidoscope, Windsor Review, Quills Magazine, The Saving Bannister (HM) 2008, 2010, The CV2 2 - Day Poetry Contest (H.M.) 2010, and by Cranberry Tree Press, Black Moss Press and Leaf Press: Monday's Poem. Karen is one of the "five poets" presented in both A Thousand Yellow Leaves, 2004, and Tongues of Whitewashed Stone, 2008 (Cranberry Tree Press). Her new book, Within The Laughter, (Judith Fitzgerald Presents) is an imprint of Cranberry Tree Press, launched at Bookfest Windsor, November, 2010.

Steel Ribbons

"Call me dancer," you say;
three year old
spinning bright,
as we watch you smile
across June's festival floor,
the satin-pink ribbons—
sun streaks
through flaxen hair…

Round and round you go;
tall at thirteen,
fawn-legs lifting high,
until a sudden shift
of your spine
curves down—
a cruel, lonely battle
that wraps your body
taut with steel-ribbons.

"Call me dancer," you say,
your mind
eager to escape
the bending pain,
rough, restless nights,
till you find freedom
in the strong beats
of a familiar studio floor…

After two binding-years—
a celebration,
as you leave behind
the restrictive bands,
tedious trips to Montreal,
ballerina wild-whirling,
your lithe steps
fine, musical notes.

about us ::: guidelines ::: contact ::: order ::: chapbooks ::: Monday's Poem ::: Monday's Archive