Queens of Silk, Kings Of Velour
A 70s party: disco, afros, flares and Abba.
I’m dancing with the women,
talking with the men.
Three songs up, strutting my stuff,
the only male dancer, bathed
in unprecedented female attention.
Three songs down, back on the sofa,
our gang of four likely lads
trading facts about the history of punk.
On the floor, I’m surrounded
by silk, smiles, the sensational
shimmying.
On the sofa, we’ve moved on to Yes.
I sing the chorus of “Close to the Edge”
with a man I don’t even know.
This is what it means to be a man: not
the All Blacks, not power tools,
not fighting foreign wars,
but the ability to name
all the members and ex-members
of obscure seventies bands.
“Dance To The Music,” Sly says,
and so I must obey.
But not without a caveat:
“Is this actually from the seventies?”
asks a couch-bound friend.
“From 1968,” I say. “Let’s dance!”
Tim says: This poem has just been published in JAAM 28: Dance Dance Dance, the 2010 issue of JAAM Magazine, edited by Clare Needham and Helen Rickerby.
JAAM 28 has a lovely cover and, from what I’ve read so far, is an excellent issue. It’s definitely worth asking JAAM for the next dance.
You can find all the Tuesday Poems online at the Tuesday Poem blog.
