Nijinsky
Danseur-quadriceps flexed, he leaps to stars
Comet-suspended among them: Constellation Panther
Descending contoured muscle-night devouring shadows
Black silk blindfolded over your eyes
Absorbing the power-dance unleashed before you.
And all at once he is Faun:
Seduction, crouched within himself; blue-music flames
Lust engulfing Nymphs leaf-flickering silhouettes
Trembling the late afternoon darkening woods
Falling asleep, dreaming as puppet Petrushka
Propped up by willow branches, swaying in the wind
Head bowed, gazing upon a marionette maker's mark
Carved in his thigh, arboreal-amazed and woodgrain
Perplexed at the bold Sartorius S engraved in his name