Ballerina's feet
are calloused
twisted
bruised and ugly from far too much use

My friends and I used to compare the carnage
which we called, forgivingly, feet

I was never much a dancer
Flexible, but ungainly
I could lift my leg over my head and hold it for a minute
keep time to music
but there was something about the rigidness of it that I never quite-

I loved it
sweet passion of a not so distant youth
and my feet were always the most battered