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Forever is such a long, long time to go
without knowing how
to fox trot.

Nor waltz, tango, jitterbug,
box step or cha-cha into eternity. Nobody turns,
no hand in his hand. No wrist
like a stopwatch, ticks out blood time
draped over his shoulder. Nobody smiles,
dips her sharp chin, hides a tight grin
and follows each sweep of his steps.

Clumsy or practiced, heavy or slight,
she is nowhere reflected. The heat
or the light from his effort, the
exercise, short-breathed and pink
from no bounce, tarry, twirl, sashay, tip.

Dip. No dip. Nothing held or upheld
in a strong-yet-soft grip. No venture,
no gain. Not even music. No strings
from the balcony, horns from afar,
piano, accordion, drum. No guitar strums
lines he might follow.

He dances with ghosts. Spirits of sense
in his driveway, his kitchen, his den.
Imagining shoes and the click as they tick
across parquet and marble. Sashes and slips
and maybe a boa.

No... probably not. Too dramatic.
This isn't the 30's. He's got to be
reasonable, even in dreams.

The band plays. It goes on
a very long
time
so it seems.

------
______________________________________________

I blog irregularly at TinkerX. I'm also on Twitter. @andyhavens, go figure.


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Comments

The following comments are for "He dances with ghosts"
by andyhavens

You'll notice...
I didn't include any disco terminology ;-)

Thanks for the comment, Eric.

( Posted by: andyhavens [Member] On: October 13, 2008 )

One two
Oh for me this one generates an interesting mood. Isn't life just this? what step? what turn next? what hell to forget the next step or the one after? And still try to hold it together with some small grace and dignity. The poem would crash and burn under the frenzied futility of disco (perhaps another poem with that theme)
Good job - good read thanks.

( Posted by: jonpenny [Member] On: October 14, 2008 )

Wheweeee! AndyHavens this is good!
Andy,

You may not use disco terminology to describe this but I will use my California lingua (tongue) to describe what I read here: This totally rocked! Dude, this is awesome, you like totally rule! Yeah! In other words; I LOVE it, it all it's many layers, and of course I made it mine, subjective to my own thoughts and feelings and projecting all kinds of meanings and sub-meanings that you may or may have not intended.

Blessings;-)

Namaste!
Lena

PS.
Andy,

On a personal note, and not about your poem, I would like to bring something else up. If you wouldn't mind please. Will you be so kind as to give us lowly members, not quite as adept as you in regards to writings skills, by "those of us" I actually just mean ME. Anyway, would yo be so kind to give RCallaci and Chrispian your input as to RCallaci post in announcements, about Exposed being re-opened, and any other SUGGESTIONS or changes or whatever you would like to see here at the Lit.Org...I am sure they, meaning RCallaci, Chrispian and the new owner/benefactor would like to hear from you (as well, as everyone else here) and know what DO YOU ALL WANT or DO NOT WANT, etc.?

I've already put in my 2 cents as has Shannon, and Chloe, but I have never had a problem with putting in my 2 cents anywhere.

What say thee though, eh?

( Posted by: TheRealKarmaTseringLhamo [Admin] On: October 14, 2008 )

Pattern is nice
I like the rhyme sequence; I had to read it a few times to understand the flow of it but now I read it as lyrical like a song. The (musical) timing is a bit clumsy and that fits the dance of the ghost dancer. The mention of absent instrumentation gives it some shape. I passed over those at first with ‘hearing’ them. All together, nice metaphor for all the baggage we carry with us – too risky to stop so better keep dancing while I can. That’s kind of what I get anyway.

BW

( Posted by: BWOz [Member] On: October 15, 2008 )





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