Paper Contortionist

We boys found refuge in the bamboo forest.

We cracked and snapped through yellow shoots

that pierced the earth like leafy daggers.

The Saints Cried with Her #3

The professional dancer went to mass on Sundays, and always tithed her ten percent. She knew all the saints by name; each had their own special prayer. When she lost her keys,

The Dance #2

On her dressing room mirror she taped a portrait of Marilyn, inscribed with one of her quotes, “The body is meant to be seen, not all covered up.” When the dancer walked on stage,

The Virgin and Marilyn Monroe #1

When asked her occupation, she would say “professional dancer,” she preferred the ambiguity and it was far more respectable than “stripper.”