The Kite
By Emily Ballou
Published 1 January 2021
The back a separate body
unfamiliar to the face
ceremony of mirrors
to find its graceful lace.
Winged arches with a piston
grip, momentous to the eye,
a notch of bone dressed buttons
trace a finger down the line
to the kite of spine's skin corsetry
and curves that cave behind.
This that breath cannot erase
is yours and all yours to fly.