To My Grandmother: The Savoy Ballroom Dancer
Everyone said you were the best dancer at the club and I wonder did you dance with a spark of joy that flowed through your feet and your legs? Did you dance like nothing could stop your hips from bringing life into the room? Did you sway in some soldier’s arms and rest your head on his chest while you two stepped and slow danced him back from the front? Did you lindy hop with a stranger who twirled you and turned your world upside down but never partnered with you for more than one song? Did you dance like the world was ending and you were its last graceful motion ? I heard that you swayed alone in the middle of the club, eyes shut, Billie’s song on your lips, the spark inside traveling the length of you, lighting the fire and fueling the dance. Kingdom We double dutched in the middle of the street turning flying saucers with our hands drumming beats with our feet Mamas called us home for peanut butter and jelly lunches winos held up the corners with brown paper bags and wobbly legs Mr. Murray came cruising in his Cadillac, picking up numbers, handing out winnings to the lucky women and men who’d had the good fortune to play their weight, their phone numbers or their dreams He gave us nickels For Hershey bars and Mary Janes we piled into the car Braids bobbing with excitement Our hands surfing the city wind and headed for Freedom land where we could be anybody and do anything I was the fat lady in the mirror Jackie was the clown with no head Octavia was a pirate with a sword arm Robbie was three feet tall Back home we seesawed and swung as high as the moon jacks and balls spilled over on the stoops we scooped them up like stars and planets in our neighborhood universe We learned back then and we haven’t forgotten that we were once little girl gods who owned the kingdom of Harlem. About the Author: Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer whose work has been acclaimed internationally in places such as the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy and at La Mama in New York City. Her stage plays have been produced in NYC at The American Theater of Actors, The Raw Space, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater and The Lamb's Theater. She holds a BA in French Literature from CUNY and her poems have appeared in Noctivant Press, The Wild Word, Trouvaille Review, Moida, Sparks of Calliope and The Elevation Review and are forthcoming in Whimsical Poet and Boston Accent Lit. Her poetry was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Comments are closed.
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