Poetry books stacked on the sofa
Poetry on the sofa

Poems by Joannie Kervran Stangeland
After the Dance
   Plié
   Relevé
   Rond de Jambe
   Adagio
   Waltz

   Priorities
   The Ground Star
   An Outside Chance
   The Project
   In Hoboken, New Jersey
   Confessions of a
     Pedestrian
   Jazz Class
   What Music Is
   To Dance
   The Past I Pass
   After the Dance

Other poems on the sofa

The sofa
Why a sofa?
My poe-query weblog
Books & anthologies
Friends to visit
Contact
After the Dance


Priorities

Everyone had a place at the barre, a small home in the room—the view from there unlike any other. With the comfort and privilege of property, the early were rewarded. Like hungry birds, they staked their claims by leaving shoes while they changed into tights and the other attires of study. We respected the bonds between footwear and territory. Then one morning, we saw a cockroach scaling the wall. It was big—as big as—I don’t know, but it was large—the size of a Chihuahua, a Battery Park rat, or maybe a mouse (without the tail). Someone squealed, and I grabbed the first thing at hand—a shoe, a man-sized shoe, and SMACK! It was effective. A bit later, a man walked out and said, Who moved my shoe?