"the music's stopped, but we still dancing..."

another version of this poem lives here

dancing with kid sister
(everything is more fun with palpable sexual tension)

It’s a habit
I have it
I half it

then double up again.

and again and again.

and again and again and again.

Taylor

and Sarah

and Sara

and Jeff

and Meghan

and Meghan

and Me

and one more Jeff
just for good measure.

It was like Noah’s ark that
chichi sushi Saturday night
before the meningitis took hold.

We ran inside the club to escape
ping pong balls pelting the pavement
pregnant with the promise of free bar tabs.

Singing with my sister:

“the music’s stopped but we still dancing...

the music’s stopped but we still dancing...

the music’s stopped but we still dancing...”

(Not every gerund is a metaphor.)

Meeting for the first time, half
knowing looks exchanged with
old friends once, sometimes
twice, met before.

[lapse]

She saved me:

a) an embarrassing retelling
b) sauerkraut and anorexia
c) we relocated to Dada

The answer is:

d) all of the above.

We relocated to:

a) crab-ridden couches
b) one a.m.
c) brownies
d) tonic water

The answer is:

e) Wednesday night in the rain.

illustration from:
For An American Girl With a Czech Surname
1st edition chapbook, limited to 50 copies
(suggested) contribution $5.00
email: circlesallthewaydown@gmail.com