In black and white you sang a dream

of bluebirds and rainbow that shaped

me like a bonsai pine leaning hard

into a still wind. That was me at your

side on the long road back to the home

you thought better of leaving once you’d

gone, and I more than any other coveted

the sequined power of those ruby shoes

to dance me down a road of my own,

out and away. I believed it all, even your

remorse, which left me unshod and shaking,

whirling like a twister in my own backyard.

Your dream wasn’t mine after all

and those shoes were wasted on you.

©Dana Hughes 10.28.19