Why Salome Danced

January 30, 2007

She is a little girl, running
to the edge of a waterfall,
her knees and wrists and hips
locking with grief (for grace comes only
after a long time). She builds
a totem of stones,
the shapes carefully chosen
in congruence with memories
no one but she will ever know. The faces
she paints on the smooth surface
tell the story of her nights,

when men force her to dance
without even knowing
her name. But soon

her broken lip will mend, again
drying the only ink she will ever use
and she will learn that stones
are meant to be thrown

at her, gracing
the silver platter served
to the heads of men.

blue rogue