Dear Mrs. Lisa,

I hope I never let you down,

Though I know I could be quite a handful back then.

I remember when I was just a kid

When I sacrificed the only homecoming I would ever have

For your ballet class.

And I’m still breathing,

though the memories roll down my cheeks.

I remember years and years of work

Wrapped in tights and a black leotard.

 

Mrs. Lisa,

I remember you more vividly than anything else.

Once upon a time this was the only thing I wanted

Your class was the beacon at the ends of my days.

I hope you believe that,

I hope you understand that I never gave up.

I just… moved on in my life.

Things are different now,

But three years later you still cross my mind

And I think back fondly,

Fondly to the things I can’t quite reach any longer.

 

Mrs. Lisa,

I still live for the stage,

I simply realized,

Ballet gave me a chance to move forward,

To bigger things.

I hope you are proud of me,

I want nothing more

Than to know that you are proud of what I have become.

I have tried, in every moment, to keep you close.

I heard things have changed

From time to time I hear whispers,

And these days the whispers hurt my heart.

I look back with nothing but fondness,

I can’t seem to say the same for the rest.

At times I want to start all over,

Learn everything again,

Go through all the tears,

All the blood and sweat,

And relive every moment.

 

Every so often, I find my way to a show,

Bury myself in a back corner

And I let everything come rushing back in

In those moments I miss it.

But Mrs. Lisa,

I need you to understand,

Ballet was never my destiny,

I think you knew that,

You knew I would find something bigger than myself.

And I did,

I found something so much bigger.

 

Hoping You Will Remember Me,

Sophie Ellis

 

P.S. There has been, and will always be a piece of you in everything I do