Ballerina


︎︎︎ Shelby Hartness

︎ Feb 16, 2023

One night, on the way
to the cinema

modern air holding
the spliff.

It's not that I’m struck
in a quiet sense—

My mind rectangles
a woman.

She walks out
of an enclave

two feet off the Seine
words sit tongued under

it's like this
yellow light,

hideous.

A lover, lemons,
eloquence, abandonment—

if the room were to indicate
a bad story I’d refuse it.

Really, it’s you
I want to examine me:

Hands on
the carpet.

Step on my
fingernails.





















































Shelby Hartness is a writer and poet living in Half Moon Bay, California. Her work has appeared in The Skirt Chronicles, Silver Operation, passerby, WONDER, and Des pair quarterly, among others. More here: shelbyhartness.com

Also by Shelby: OtherwiseMy Girl Is a Lawyer