Dance by Kim Addonizio
Here’s another one sent by a friend. I think it’s a great poem, and I’m especially impressed with the use of the word sidereal (spoken like a true word nerd, I know).
Dance
By Kim Addonizio
When you are finally, magically, able to clone
yourself into several identical women,
so that each one can move toward a man
who’s been waiting for his turn
to come around for the first time, or maybe again,
won’t you be happy then,
all of you together in a lustrous ballroom,
each woman wearing her distinguishing number,
the judges scoring everyone the same, music spilling
from the bandstand, the men thrilled
to be near you, each one whispering
a different pet name, each one polishing
with his black shoes a perfect circle of floor
while he raises you up, holding your
hips in his hands, gazing at you with his brown
or mottled green eyes, looking down
with his startling blue ones, taking you into a corner
then spinning you out toward the center
where the light from the mirrorball
splinters over your skin, sidereal
as your sequined dress, and you feel
as complete as you’ll ever feel,
moving through all your true and beautiful lives
while the real one pales.
