“Dancing the dance”
what is to dance and what is a ball?
did he go to the fair? and if he did,
what did he carry with him?
may I have the pleasure of this ball?
he asked me. I can break in two
a dictionary, I replied, so now you decide.
and how do you dance? could you
define what is a dance for me.
a marry-go-round
with all these nice people involved,
in for a penny, in for a pound.
to dance for joy to toss about wriggling one’s hips
the prima ballerina at the Scala
black nightingale wearing a costume hanging loosely
and a loose tooth in her mouth.
on the opposite side of the square
mirroring himself into her soft movements,
a chap as unstable on his feet as an English man
on quake lands and as happy as
an American President at the World Peace Congress
to dance like ships tossed in a storm
dreaming of going to the Court ball
to meet the unhappy Prince of the black nightingales
to get involved in feet measuring shoe testing
and smile to my bitter sisters
to feel participant as at the local fair
where a bear is shambling about
in front of a crowd of country folks.
4 11 2001
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