tiny dancer...

in the dark hours between
sleep and dreams,
the anxiety unfolds
wrapping itself around me,
caressing me while promising no escape…
in the cavern where regret
grows monstrous and disappointment
annihilates will,
the well of tears almost spill
down my cheeks…
my uneven breaths choke me,
my eyelids tight
against the light, knowing with age
the world shrinks…
the broad vistas of promise tighten
until, like the ballerina,
i stand on one toe in the back
of the closet…
realizing even sleep offers no relief
from cramps…


tiny dancer...soliloquies
ja allen