He Did Not Seduce Me

by Sara Backer

The photographer showed me his sky

titled Cerulean with Virgas. Wispy

strands trailed below cirrus clouds,

ice crystals evaporating before falling,

suspended in blue.

He pointed to a virga

he saw as a ballerina,

legs stretching below a tutu,

head crowned with cloud flowers.

I saw only filmy ultrasound blurs.

I couldn’t stand the suspense.

I wanted to evaporate before I fell,

but kept dancing through the second act

in case of a change of weather.

An earlier version was first published in Melusine