Trigger Warning
She longed to shrug off
this heavy casing of inflexible stone,
so she could paint playful tunes
with her fluttering fingers onto thin air.
But no matter how much she longed to
Twirl, pirouette, skip, or hop in sync with
these melodious waves,
her hands remained immobile,
feet rooted to the spot.
At least she could still dream of dancing
with the waves, a few millennia ago
before that witch had turned her to stone,
and these misguided fools
had placed her in a polluted city in a tight niche;
not knowing, or uncaring
of how their nostalgic soulful songs
made her weep tears of dew at misty dawn.
*A type of circle dance in ancient Greece
Inspired by the art-work shown, Longing to Dance (also by Sultana Raza).