The Dark Pink, Sparkling Tutu Poem by Romella Kitchens

At a foster care in rural Western Pennsylvania,
Mary Jane Blasco and I used to dream of better
times.
A better life.
Mary Jane was two years older than my 3 and ½.
She was a ballet student and did turns for me and
told me the best way to get adopted was to show
them you had talent.
So, she showed me simple ballet.

At night, after Mary Jane let me eat the rest of
her dinner because many of us girls ate nothing,
I would lay in bed little and afraid but with dreams.
Somewhere in my mind, to get great people to
adopt me, I needed dark pink sparkle tights, a
dark pink sparkling leotard, a glittering dark pink tutu and a head piece, a cap of sorts sparkling with bright yellow feathers on the top.
I would tumble on the floor in it then, rise up
on point and sway back and forth like a lovely
swan, just the way Mary Jane showed me.

Mary Jane didn't get adopted.
Her mother and step father came to get her before a nice woman who also had studied ballet could finalize her decision.
Her mother and step father had made up and
were back together again.
Mary Jane's step father hit her and screamed at her as soon as she got in their expensive car.
I didn't get to say anything, not even goodbye to Mary Jane.
I simply watched as the sedan pulled away, Mary Jane crying.
The foster mother said she would call immediately to get Mary Jane placed somewhere nice, somewhere safe -- without "discipline."

Most of my life, I have imagined Mary Jane, how she taught me to stand in first position, plié, do a wobbly toddler's turn.
She had brought joy and dance to my life.
I hoped there was joy in hers.
Back then though, I would stand in Mary Jane's empty room and think about her gentle smile,
her petal pink ballet slippers, the dreams she let me share, the time she told me: "Honestly,
you don't need that stupid costume you have in your head. They get photographs in an album. I love you. Any family would pick you out and love you."
And, I loved you too, Mary Jane…
Loved you with all of my heart.