Vltava Ballerina
Castle light bleeds across the river
in the deep blue afternoon
falls across the spray gold statues
the smoke-filled magicians
the sequined dancers
and a woman
studying a book
waiting for her tram and her girlfriend.
I know her well, but I will bury myself
inside the dark fibers of my hair,
my black sheep coat
because I have spiced wine on my breath
desire purple on my lips
and I am no dancer, not like the girl in the leotard
spinning and stretching for silver crowns
but I know the steps
that will carry me between
hello and her bed
and they always end
in a solo.
Sophie Panzer is the author of the chapbooks Mothers of the Apocalypse (Ethel Press 2019) and Survive July (Red Bird Chapbooks 2019). She currently edits prose for Inklette and previously edited fiction for Scrivener Creative Review. Her recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Little Old Lady Comedy, Josephine Quarterly, and Anti-Heroin Chic.
