Firebird
by Jessica Wilkinson
“Our body has to free itself
from the drug of earthly gravity”
- George Balanchine
“Take some more—let’s be drunk.”
- Igor Stravinsky
You cannot find it in a book—
the heat of a taut, lean muscle—glowing;
the piccolo flutter of a wing;
blinding vibrations at take off.
The bird must be free to be understood,
a burst of tulle, skittering on and off
the stage; ember-quick, with the burning
grace of a vodka wavelet down the throat.
Allegro rapace: woodwind and strings refracted
through movement, the body rhythm
rampant—wild bourrées, sissone, sissone
arabesque unfurling. This creation is
substantially sincere, a blessing
and a bringer of doom: you see, a rose
is a rose is a rose is not true—
each body becomes its own distinct poetry
in a logical plastic sequence.
The message is: intense pleasure—
and then it is gone.
Jessica L. Wilkinson’s first book Marionette: a biography of Miss Marion Davies was published by Vagabond in 2012 and shortlisted for the 2014 Kenneth Slessor Award. Her second, Suite for Percy Grainger: a biography was published in 2014. She is currently working on her third poetic biography, Music Made Visible: a biography of George Balanchine. Jessica is the founding editor of Rabbit: a journal for non-fiction poetry.