The Dancers
Sonal Shah
Tigers danced in the submarine
Threatening and trembling
Blossoming from the cave of enlightenment
Panting in her fiery demise
Threatening and trembling
Ogling eyes and wandering minds
Panting in her fiery demise
Prim and propped and posed and punished
Ogling eyes and wandering minds
She shined her shoes with nowhere to go
Prim and propped and posed and punished
Dancing and swaying in the moonlight
She shined her shoes with nowhere to go
Woman stands behind every great man
Dancing and swaying in the moonlight
Nipped and fitted and tucked in every place
Woman stands behind every great man
Horrid and hungry, strewn in that white cloth
Nipped and fitted and tucked in every place
She ached like an animal
Horrid and hungry, strewn in that white cloth
Strong-legged ballerinas, graceful and gruesome
She ached like an animal
Because women are soft and tired and strong
Strong-legged ballerinas, graceful and gruesome
Tigers danced in the submarine
Because women are soft and tired and strong
Blossoming from the cave of enlightenment
Sonal Shah is a member of the Class of 2023 and is from Monroe Township, NJ. She is in the SAS Honors Program and is majoring in Health Administration with a minor in Biology. She spends her free time tapping into her creativity with painting, music, and photography.
Sonal wrote this poem for Professor Joanna Fuhrman’s Intro to Creative Writing course in the Spring 2021 semester. Fuhrman selected it for publication in WHR.