June Righelito – The Little Dancer – Rodney Wood

June Righelito – The Little Dancer

June Righelito is a tired fourteen year old ballet dancer stuck in the 4^th position. Chin out, shoulders back & heels aligned in his dark, cold & filthy studio.

Instead of a uniform of gold or yellow she’s dressed in a threadbare bodice, tutu, silk slippers & stockings.

She’s tense, scared that Degas will abandon her & she’ll disappear into poverty & prostitution even though he calls her his goddess, his muse.

She likes to think he’ll give her a bit of money & when she leaves the Paris Opera she’ll spend time clumping round a little garden & singing in the evening as she watches the sun slide from the sky.

She’d like to think that but knows artists are stingy old buggers but she sees a bright future where misery lit & experience are all the rage.

Rodney Wood worked in London and Guildford. His poems have appeared recently in The High Window, Orbis, Magma (where he was Selected Poet in the deaf issue) and Envoi. His debut pamphlet, Dante Called You Beatrice , appeared in 2017. You can find more information about Rodney and his work at rodneywoodpoet.wordpress.com