Age: 20
Nationality/Place of Origin: Istria, Trieste
Description: rope-walker
Cause of Death: Died of atlanto-axial disclocation (broken neck)
The secret to balance
is to always fall up—
Even in training, I rarely
felt the net on my back.
I pointed my nose
away from the hills,
seeing what I needed to see
through the soles
of my bare feet.
The secret to my trade
is to only desire
the path the rope stretches
in front of you.
So I followed it every day,
the crowd’s roar
making tidal noise.
I never cared until I heard
Elena’s voice
in the throng below.
For one second,
my feet forgot their work.
My eyes found her face,
and took the rest of me falling
Although a resident of northeast Georgia, Michelle Castleberry enjoys visiting Philadelphia whenever possible. She is working on a series of poems based on the Hyrtl Skull Collection from the M?tter Museum. Her first book is Dissecting the Angel and Other Poems.