en pointe

you don't know what it's like:

to get those pink slippers and to to tie that sateen ribbon tightly around that bun atop your head.to beg the butterflies to fly in formation just long enough to get through class.to swallow your own tears of excitement when miss claine tells you that your pirouette is an example for all to see. to be cast as a mouse in the nutcracker and to have your beloved slippers painted grey.to see your parents standing outside the car fighting while the sand runs through the hourglass of your rehearsal, only to have your slippers hung up for you.and you don't know what it's like to have your daughter tell you, TELL YOU, that she want to try... to try it all.

(but maybe you do.)