The swan's last waltz:

Lithe legs spread

Neck stretched

Feet splayed

A swan-song.

Toes strong

Fingers pulse

Then snap;

A pirouette:

A spectacular series

Of whirls on her toes

He circles her on the ball of his foot

Musical, muscular movements mingle and mix

With a shiver of white she jumps

A catching of the breath as she slumps

Into his arms;

A choreography of bodies

Leak across the stage

And into imagination.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's dream

Of Russian folk lore:

Odette, a princess,

Turned into a swan

By an evil sorcerer's curse.

Her ending the happy tragedy

Of unity in death-rebirth;

The music and the movement

Move the audience into the lives

Of Siegfried and Odette.

Movingly magical music

Leaves us wondering at the strange role fate

Takes in all of our brief lives.