Stefanie Leigh

Outline

A man walks through a canyon
of tendons, ligaments—lifts
muscle, finds bone, plasma,

comfort inside the pink flesh.
He climbs across her ribs,
lies down to a drumbeat

of breath, a current of
Come here, be with me forever,
his favorite scent before

he wakes—

He draws her veins
in his mind one more time,
forgetting why she had stitches

sewn—something about having
a say in who wanders around
inside her outline.

Stefanie Leigh is a poet and ballet dancer based in Toronto. She was a dancer with American Ballet Theatre and is currently working on her first poetry collection, Swan Arms. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Rust & Moth, ONE ART, SWWIM, Frozen Sea and elsewhere.