BY EMILY X.R. PAN
Missed Dance
I wander over cobblestones
dreaming idly of lips
brought to life in mirrors
Is it a slash of lipstick
or pomegranate seeds
dripping those underworld promises?
Deep inhale night
leads me across a bridge
they say the Seine has a stink
Exhale exhale all
I got was the smell of stars falling
out of love
But rewind
first we met dancing
our eyes made the greeting
I smiled at the long dark hair
the pair of red lips
over his shoulder
He thought my glittering teeth
were for him
they always do
I love this song he said
twirled me like a doll
until I was dizzy and she was gone
In the morning light
my teeth were not the dagger
I kept on me just in case
Under the sun we kicked
our naked feet
across guitar-string grass
He pressed his mouth to my ear
to drink of me
and all I thought of were her silver shoes
Emily X.R. Pan is the New York Times bestselling author of THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER, which won the APALA Honor Award and the Walter Honor Award, received six starred reviews, was an L.A. Times Book Prize finalist, and was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, among other accolades. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit Emily online at exrpan.com, and find her on Twitter and Instagram: @exrpan.
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