"Ballet," by Ilaria B.

Arriving to class 15 minutes early 

Because if your on time your late

Stretching and lengthening, warming up

The old floor creeks, the bars are hanging on by a thread and the lights flicker

You can hear the buzz and clinking when they turn on

The piano gets rolled into place 

The bench screeches against the floor

The door wooshes open and everyone stands up

Class starts

As you get sweaty 

The room gets humid

And you hyper fixate on the sound of 

Whipping arms

Cracky bones

Sticky pointe shoes

And hips popping

“Tendue, plie, point, stretch, bend, straighten, grow, close, reach”

Trying to fix and focus on everything at once

Rushing across the floor 

Counting down the hours until you regain freedom and go home