Three Poems by Heather Holliger: The Balloon, Dancing Girl, Near

Dancing Girl
by Heather Holliger

Still wet from a bath
from her mother's
delicate scrub,
a dancing girl
emerges –
bare foot, on tip-toe,
waving a silken
red scarf, twirling
in her white
nightie, her de-tangled
curls, turning
on her toes
spinning
white, gold, red
sparkles
light as
laughter,
a butterfly's
flutter,
its itch
for flight –
friction of a scarf
a nightie
against the air
wings
pulsing
creating
lift –

Heather Holliger is a poet, activist, and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. She currently teaches writing and women's studies at Ohlone College. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Aurorean, Labletter, and Sugar Mule, among others. She has served as editor of So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language & Art and is a former staff writer for Ms. magazine online.

Copyright 2012 Heather Holliger . © This work is protected under the U.S. copyright laws. It may not be reproduced, reprinted, reused, or altered without the expressed written permission of the author.