Can You Dance?

Can you dance?
she said  
Coyly.
He thought quickly
Where are my words now?
Surely, they will not fail me now.

In an instant
he knew
that the dance he danced each day
did not count.
The many moments that his truth
danced out of reach,
and his dancing words
hung
swinging
from the top of the business tree
Dangling
like participles
in a grammarian nightmare.

Can you dance?
Of course, he thought.
I dance around my feelings
every day.
If I stop to feel them,
I know that I will surely die.

Can you dance?
Oh, yes, I can.
What kind of dance would you like?
I dance the dance of the runner,
running away
and still away.
I dance the dance of the dreamer,
wishing for a slow and easy pace,
hoping against hope
that the music will follow my lead.

Can you dance?
Can you teach me?        

Comments

[Ranjana]

It's not so bad. Really. Or maybe I've just been caught in one too many Montana bldizarzs so I'm a tad jaded. But I would say #3 is the best options for use of the hat. Now as an aside, can I just say how much your 2 oldest girls look like Rick? That picture is proof positive that they're not a product of an afternoon tryst with the mailman or pool boy or someone like that, unless that was Rick's job back then. Come to think of it, I can easily see that hat on a mailman. Pool boy? Not so much.[]