Alden Kirby

THE AERIALISTS

D.F.

Rising, falling on the wind,

as branches bend in hurricane,

acrobats with curving thighs.

in a circus hang,

and, from waiting upside down,

make a breathless heaven of the ground

until

down on me they swing,

when their empty-handed arms,

encircling all my heaven's earth around,

fill themselves

before retreat

upon their distant flying rings.

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