Apart came the cassette player
Tiny screwdriver unwinding tiny screws
The music box with the ballerina
Slowly spinning static above red satin
The fabric tugged out carefully
A mysterious mechanism released from its hold
No longer attached
Free
The work took place in secret
Spaces during times unlikely
To be distubed
Taking it all apart
How romantic
To try and see how it all worked
Springs and metal tines
And a spindle with well positioned bumps
Made music for the dancer
Why did she dance
How could she not
But
I was stymied at the circuit board
For recording every note
A small city with sculptured silver pyramids
Barrel buildings on their sides held aloft on metal legs
How poetic
To wonder what mysteries were held
In the little spaces
Colored beads of wonder
Against the green
And to put it back together
And to insure that it would work
Nothing broken
Nothing loose
No shred of evidence behind
Tiny tools were hidden
Until the next time
