THE NUTCRACKER BY COURTNEY MANDRYK
for Hannah
for Hannah
What grace: the Nutcracker is [two more beats here] transformed. Sweet Clara sees her prince. And elegance becomes her. The beauties glide through gentle snow: silk billows, arms extend, hearts warm, they dance a pas de deux to innocence and hope.
The celestial Sugar Plum Fairy spins, enchants. She defies gravity, the peak of grace—
then Clara wakes, transformed. She glows. Was there a Mouse King? A ship to a candied place? Her Nutcracker looks on with his painted eyes. He knows.
Courtney Mandryk is a writer and artist living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Michgian and her MFA in Art from Cranbrook Academy of Art. To learn more, visit mothdrawn.com.