Flocking Patterns

By Zoe Reay-Ellers

Based on the picture “Untitled 8” by Diane Arbus

We danced like swans 
when we were younger: feathers 
and rum dripping down our thighs, 
spines curving towards flickering 
lights. We were the shadows 
of every skeezy bar from here 
to nowhere, all moonlight and 
bootleg: sirens commanding 
every man that so-much-as-glanced 
at us to drown 
in the confines of their pocket 
change. Heels higher 
than steeples, dresses 
shorter than tempers (which 
we didn’t have much of, I can 
tell you that), nights 
always half-gone the second 
we came up for air, lungs filling 
with smoke 
and oxygen snatched 
off the tongues of men 
we’d only see past twelve; 
we were their night 
shift, but we didn’t mind.

Zoe Reay-Ellers is a writer from Washington State. You can find her work in The Heritage Review, and The Eunoia Review. When not writing, she can be found baking and taking long walks.