my sister said she saw the statues dance
I told her to leave me alone
but the kid kept saying, every night
“the statues are dancing!”
“no, it’s not the swaying trees!”
“no, I’m not dreaming!”
“I saw it!”
“come watch them with me!”
so here we are
laying in the rainwet grass
of the citylight-lit garden
you can’t see the stars out here
we haven’t spoken
I think she fell asleep
dreaming of statues dancing
then I see a stone hand shift
through the brush
the hand moves stiffly, then the arm
the whole woman slowly wakes
she reaches for the man nearby
and he, too, begins to move
I watch them slide off their pedestals
motions smoothing out
they take each other’s hands
slowly, calmly
underwater giants
unaware of my tiny eyes watching
when their feet touch the earth
there is no shuddering boom
silently these marble beasts
step and leap and spin
they are suspended
in time and air
floating, twisting among the flowers
I fall asleep
to their lullaby dance
my sister and I
tucked away
in the garden foliage