RELIGION Poem: PREQUEL: First Pair of Character Heels, by Flower Apley

this work is lie
except this part is an ode
so this work I guess is lies and odes
although there is a breath inbetween
but a breath is a collaboration

so this work is lies, odes, & collaboration
this is not a work that uses language sparingly
it is a book that uses words selfishly and like
they are infinite
flowing through the faucets of the cosmos and into my hands

ORIGIN: first pair of character heels
a featured dancer
to be a featured dancer was to be adored
there it was right there in writing featured dancer
Robyn had auditioned with the song of the female lead
and she had dreamed vividly
and intensely

to be kissed to be adored
to have
the sound tech lift my shirt to replace
the receiver on my hip bone
snake the cord through my stomach
goosebumps the cord is exciting &
foreign
middle of my sternum the flat bone part
between the tissue that hugs
the hot part exchange eyes as the
Tech fixes the mic to my collar
bones picking up my lip skin rubbing together
as my mouth waters

this dream died the minute
that she saw the directors face with his sweet smile
his breath remained steady
it was not the face that you make when you witness a female lead but where there is death there
is also the birth
Of a featured dancer

the four featured dancers were christened with their very own pairs of character heels
Two inch,
with a genuine leather sole
and soft breathable lining
attached ankle strap
and scoring on the ball for excelled
traction
stability
and control

placed on their godly feet
to perform kickball changes
that go clack clack clack
Robyn wrestled them onto her enormous feet
and clunk clunk clunk across the stage
clack clack clack clunk
clack clack clack clunk

I will keep these far underneath my bed
until I have mastered the moves without Excelled traction

clack clack clack pat
Clack clack clack pat

finally the four featured dancers put on their bought costumes
not made by their mothers
and began to spin stories
with their youthful ripe bodies

they have their exits and their entrances
their changes from sequins to burlap
from beggars to rich women at the ball
applauded for their ability to shift
seamlessly from persona to persona
telling woes of days past more divine
than
clunk

now the fourth featured dancer’s stories
were less weaved and more splayed
an August foal following spring yearlings
prancing tauntingly in front of the sires and dams
the ode to Andrew Lloyd Webber was drowned out by
the sounds of her thunderous hooves
On the polished stage floor
mothers covered the eyes of their children
the director sat there aghast
The audience began to swirl
and the theater lights began to consume her vision

the four dancers made their way up the grand staircase
the magnificent budget set at the end of the first act
built by the small hands of their peers and their mothers
definitely not up to building regulations
so high it soared past the heavens
planks of wood donated by Rachel M.’s father
who worked at a sawmill

the monster living in Robin spat on her poor tired feet
heavy with maple syrup saliva
the trek became

impossible she reached
for a step
but her character heel found
nothing
and her body cascaded
down the stairs more elegantly
than she had moved
this whole performance

poor poor Joseph
locked up in a Cell
things aren’t going well
a locked up in a Cell
Oh poor Joseph locked up in a cell
things aren’t going well
locked up in a cell
the ensemble slowly faded out
as more and more turned their heads to witness
her body strewn across the stairs
the woodwinds played on
faithful servants to their sheet music
adults stepped in at the end of the number
to clear the stage of all unconscious bodies

they looked so out of place there
amongst children playing mothers and fathers
kings and sinners
she awoke to strangers and fixtures and lights and sounds
and questions about the president
they said that she looked fine
and that her even pupils indicated health and wisdom
and they sent her back on to the stage

Robyn battled through another performance
secretly vomiting between acts
in the non ensemble greenroom
mothers smelled the stomach acid on her lips
and caught glimpse of dark purple blossoming
overtaking her side
she took them to the doctor
where many procedures tests injections questions robots perfect stage lighting no audience
small small Robyn in a machine
told to lie very still don’t cry don’t even breathe
the image will come out blurry
they asked me to rest
until the blood my brain had drained back into my body
but I could not rest

here’s the difficult thing to explain about this story
my first pair of character heels
was a power I was meant to wield
a power handed down to me from a divine source
a power that I had been afraid to open up
because once I did nothing could ever be the same