On Wittnessing a Ballerina Fall

An observer's response to wittnessing the moment when a young girl's life changes forever

ON WITTNESSING A BALLERINA FALL DURING A PERFORMANCE OF "NUTCRACKER"


Somebody’s daughter, a ballerina,
fell
hit the stage hard
with her thin, delicate elbow.
Two-thousand eyes witnessed and pitied-
there was an audible, collective gasp.

I imagined this adolescent ego
was like a big beautiful red circus balloon
burst into a million small pieces--
as if tiny particles of her soul covered the stage,
like a blizzard of snowflakes.

She will not forget this day.

Time and time again
she will feel her elbow hit the stage,
like a terrible mantra-
Over and over again
she will feel the air explode from her perfectly round red balloon
like a silent bomb detonating.