Modern Degas
By Adina Kopinsky
It’s #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day‘s archives!
A knee joint, a bent elbow, a spangled skirt—ballerinas passe towards the floor, shoulders gleam with the minutiae of anatomy; Elegant as ever you sketched— dancers in the dim light of a dressing room, skin like cream and caramel, hollow against spine, like horses paused before the Kentucky Derby, prize stallions of the Bolshoi Ballet. No wonder you loved them all, Edgar— muscles, feathered skirts and plumed tails, the heave of chests, mist and paw, the rise and fall of music, gunshot, the hee-yaw! of a jockey— you would have loved Messi too, instep kick like a dancer on the soccer field, rising a releve to the rhythm of his fans; hearts stopped, tableau, the body of work you left behind, ballerina and horse, brush and charcoal, form and flesh, Raymondo, Ronaldo, the sweat and swell of delusions, dreams, a revelation of what our bodies, our hands might have been—
Adina Kopinsky is attempting to balance poetry, motherhood, and contemplative living. She is originally from Los Angeles and now lives in Israel with her husband and four sons. She has work published or forthcoming in Crannog, PANK, SWWIM Every Day, and Glass: A Journal of Poetry, among other publications. She is also a board-certified lactation consultant and a language editor at The Journal of Human Lactation.
1/12-2/14 / Submit to Sonnet Boom: Love Poems for Miami, a poetry contest brought to you by SWWIM, Elevate Miami, and O, Miami. Youth and adult categories. Cash prizes. Free to enter. See Submittable for complete guidelines.
02/12 / Poetry Reading and Conversation with visiting poet-in-residence Allison Blevins & local poets Carolina Hospital, Nicole Hospital-Medina, and Holly Iglesias / The BBar at The Betsy-South Beach, Miami Beach, FL / Live and Live-Streamed on Instagram Live/Facebook Live at @swwimmiami / 7-8:30 pm EST / Free
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