CHRISTINA WOś DONNELLY

Making the Dresses Move

“Mexican Ladies!” the choreographer
blared, “Make those dresses move!
MAKE THEM MOVE.”
And Jose-Limon-like each lifted
one hip over, up and back,
dancing down the imaginary street
as bastard amber lit the stage
and Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid
warmed to broad daylight
crescendo.

I thought of that, this day,
thirty years since, walking
down this street, feeling
these hips in their own
undulant sway, leg swinging
from hip in a long, free
stretch of stride. Feeling
the full power of my full pride
of motion, feeling
this woman’s body move
this dress: my American dress
made in
Costa Rica,
Guatemala,
Indonesia,
South Korea,
or perhaps Taiwan.
(I can’t read the label
while the dress is on.)

And I imagine that, this day,
down those streets walk
other women, women who
made my American dress
making their dresses move,
making their own dresses
move.

Christina Woś Donnelly has most enjoyed being a writer and copyeditor; a lay minister and hospital chaplain; a dancer and the mother of 3 multi-talented daughters. Her poetry has appeared in WordWrights!, Artvoice and The Buffalo News and can also be found online at Stirring, Rogue Scholars and The Writer’s Den.  She is the author of a chapbook, Venus Afflicted, and has work forthcoming in Slipstream 2002 and Off the Cuffs: Police Poetry on Both Sides, but most enjoys sharing her writing with live audiences.

Despite her ministerial background, Christina has never written a religious or “spiritual” poem, or anything about angels. Her writing flows from whatever she is currently processing (invariably human behavior and human relationships) and sometimes involves swearwords and semen.  She lives in Buffalo, NY where the Niagara River flows past her windows.

Also check out Christina's 2001 debut on Poetz.com.