The Ballet

She waltzes into the air,
dancing deftly with the moonlight.
She kills with her allure.
She’s a magical illusion.
A mystical delusion.
A breathtaking beast,
dressed as a ballerina.

She pirouettes ¹ —
it’s the split second of life.
She walks towards you, relevée ²,
her arms the arch of Heaven.
She pauses in an arabesque ³;
the balance between life or death.

But she sashays back
with a hypnotic grace
and the moonlight
kisses her beautiful face.
She looks pure.
She looks divine.

She has made her chassé.

She is a seductress —
spectral and sinister.
Stunning with her finesse,
there is none like her.

The carriage of her poised arms
is the Hearse to Heaven.

 

…
In this poem, I have expressed death metaphorically — as a ballerina. The different postures of Ballet have been used to describe death and its advent. The ‘Ballerina’ is then described as a seductress because ‘she’ lures one in — only to kill — as she mesmerises them with her dazzling dance of Death.

…
1  Pirouette is a ballet term which means “spin” — describes when a dancer is turning around one leg with the other off the ground

2  Relevée is a ballet term which means “raised” — the dancer rises up and seemingly stands “on their toes”

3  Arabesque is a body position in which a dancer stands on one leg with the other leg turned out and extended behind the body, with both legs held straight — requires balance

4  Chassé is a ballet term — quick gliding steps with one foot always leading — it also means “Hunt” in French