Friday, August 29, 2008

skip rope.

i saw girls dancing once
back and forth from one foot
to another quick as breathing
and i was like how pretty
how sentimental and sweet
those childhood dances
from when all you had to avoid
were cracks in the sidewalk
how simple how sweet
those moments of innocence

i wandered back one day
one of those days when it seems
the thunderclouds are the only thing
holding the sky together
and saw the same girls 
taller now
with shorter hair
sharp layers that say
i've cut myself free
from those braided ropes
that held me down and still
but they were dancing still
feet flying up and over
while around their ankles 
the round green bamboo
clattered and smashed
as rythmic as water falling
loud like thunder
as they held the dance
and the smiles
with their feet as fast as silver
keeping themselves half a step
ahead of the collision

i walked away 
keeping my feet high
and remembering
that if you remember to dance
the jaws will miss you
more often than not.

2 comments:

thearchitects said...

wow.
that one definitely unnerved me.

explain?

May-Belle said...

have you ever seen the dances with the bamboo poles? the guys squat on the ground and rythmically slam the poles together and then on the ground or on little podiums and then together until its like percussion? then the girls jump in and dance through it. they have to keep their rhythm just right or they get crushed but they are so graceful and the bamboo sounds like a heart beat clashing together