Held Forever In Its Mind Poem by Dónall Dempsey

The curtain becomes
a beautiful ballerina
dancing to the gramophone
just out of reach
of its lace fingertips

the music
drifting dazedly
settling here & there
the water
in the water jug
trembling at its touch

a lost hair brush
a long red hair imprisoned
in it
a solitary
leaf

entering now
this charmed
space
takes a bow
dances to
Stravinsky
a red & yellow
Firebird

realer
than any imagination
& tired now
settling itself
upon a pillow
& the see-through
nightdress

falls asleep
& dreams
of being
something other than itself
as the music
ebbs

and it returns
to being
the leaf it was
before the music
enchanted it
and it became
the vision
the mirror holds
forever in its mind.