Rain Dance

It pelted down from grey,

I had to wonder,

Were you hidden there,

Among the drops that splurged,

Pooling on me,

Filling all my aspects,

Seeping in,

Completion to my urge.

Did you see me

In the arid, panting,

Deserted by the floods,

A thirsty waif,

Eye of kindness,

Centred, calming, soothing

To parched you fell

From earnest plea to save.

I spied you

In the glimmer after, edging

Clouds were brighter,

Sharper than before,

Summer brought

Amid the dark descending,

A fount of love from deluge,

Dripped to core.

Did you see me dance with fervour,

Earthed to heavens,

Dust arise from feet

That stamped for rain,

Arms akimbo,

Did you feel the beating

Purged by purity

To ease dried pain.

 

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Tuning Senses

See the fire growing fom the ember barely there,

See the flames begin their dance again,

See them feeding oxygen, thirsting on the air,

See them leaping, fire renewed from pain.

See resplendent feathers, reflected in the dance,

See the plumage, see the wings, they spread,

See new life arising from the ashes, sparked of chance,

See the life exhumed, reborn from dead.

Hear the thrum of music, crackling from the pyre,

Hear the mystic voice of phoenix rise,

Hear the heat in visuals scorching from new fire,

Hear the silent message in her cries.

Feel impassioned purpose, senses tuned to glow,

Feel the power pulsing in its name,

Feel the fire of life coursing so we know,

Feel eternal light rebirthed from flame.

 

 

Save This Dance

Will you love me kinder, tender of my dreamscapes,

While passion flares will softness still hold sway,

Shall we dance with longing through the nighttimes

All fears and inhibitions held at bay.

Will we be such lovers on the dancefloor swaying,

Beat to beat, hearts tempoed to the tune,

Shall we weave and wax our words and feelings,

Silhouettes reflected in ballroom.

Will we tango footsteps, bodies fusing

Wilder yet though cherished in the dance,

Shall we meet upon the moonlit parquet,

Tender lovers teaching of romance.

Will the thrum of love keep right on beating

As planets twirl and sunlight filters through,

Shall divinity of the dance we shared in passing

Resist the light and save my dreams of you.

The Watchers

Who watches

When you come to me

Crawling on all fours,

Eyes never leaving mine

Except to glance below?

Sharp inhale, thinking where

Your licking lips may go.

Standing before you,

Legs trembling,

Heart pounding,

Film of sweat on lip.

Who watches

From the corners

And sees you reach

To stroke my ankles,

Rising to calves,

Raising head,

As hands travel north to hips?

Who watches

While your tongue

Touches cloth

And wets where

Wet already pools?

I watch.

I see your eyes lift to mine,

Hold my gaze

While you tempt and tease.

Promises of what

Will come.

Hips urging forward,

More contact to gain.

Lips parting

To descend

In suckle.

And cries aloud.

No flesh to flesh

In intimacy yet,

Penetrating silky sheath,

A moan,

A miaow

Of sheer delight.

Who watches?

My eyes in mirror

See we two

As of others tasting.

Heady mixture,

Voyeur and participant.

You glance to capture

My eyes in the reflection

And we two

Begin the dance

That flames

The watchers.

Shall We Dance?

Will you dance the tango with me

And make me forget all life’s woes,

Hold your cheek close to mine, rough to soft

While I clench in my teeth a red rose?

 

Will you waltz me around until dawn

In a ballroom where only we two belong

Skirting floor edge to edge in grand sweeps

While orchestra plays our love song?

 

Will you Charleston and laugh as we flap

Giddy moves, all dressed to the nines,

Flirt outrageously, pose to the world

While forgetting all sad other times?

 

Will you twist me and turn me around,

Shake hips with luscious desire,

Berate the baleful and bored

While hearts are consumed by our fire?

 

Will you strip the willow with me,

Hear the skirl as I spin in your arms,

Skip up each line, reuniting in time,

While you succumb to all of my charms?

 

Will you rock and roll if they play,

And twirl me in jauntiest jive,

Laughing loudly at moves that we make

While you reassure me I’m still alive?

 

Will you boogie to disco, though crass,

Strut your stuff to show your emotion,

Remembering how those years were filled,

While new times inspire true devotion?

 

Will you pogo and romp if I smile

And suggest that we always must dance,

Partaking of life with its music to rouse

While we serenade this, our last chance?

 

Will you hold me for slowest of tunes

As the night draws to close and we sway,

Will you promise to be the dance of my life

While the music ebbs, fades away?

Beaming!

I nipped home from school at lunch time today to pick up a ‘princess’ dress. There and back inside 45 minutes. And so worth the rush.

You see, one of the schools I teach in was having a dress rehearsal for the Christmas school panto – an adaptation of Cinderella. A member of staff mentioned earlier in the morning that one girl was without a costume. She had been off school and was not aware that she had to bring a dress in with her today. And she had nothing suitable. Just like the real Cinderella.

I had no idea who the dress was for but, judging from the teacher’s description of the girl, I felt sure I would have one at home that fitted. Well, not me personally, you understand. I don’t dress up as a princess. Much. One of my daughter’s dresses.

On returning to the school and rushing to the class in question I discovered that the dress was for a nine-year old I see once a week for a few hours. This girl, K., is profoundly deaf in one ear and is painfully quiet in class, barely speaking unless directly spoken to. And, even then, in a whisper

When I realised the dress was for her I was worried. This child was going to be one of the Cinderellas! I reassured myself that maybe she had a non-speaking part.

Shortly after one o’clock I sat, along with all the other children and staff in the school, and watched as three classes of children aged 9-11 did their thing. They were great.

K. came on in her princess dress. I was practically holding my breath.

She joined in a song with the others on stage and seemed to be doing well. I relaxed a little despite the fact that she was being overshadowed by two other more confident girls practically standing right in front of her. I wanted to shout, ‘Hey, let Cinderella in!’

The song finished and the next scene was between K. as Cinderella and Buttons. I was blown away.

My gawd, she was brilliant. This bashful child enacted her part with clarity and volume and facial expressions and movements worthy of either of the two ‘real’ pantos I’ve been at in the last few weeks.

Sometimes, people think that Drama, Dance, Music, Art and P.E. are secondary in importance to the principal subjects of literacy and numeracy. Of course, the latter two are important. And I love teaching them . But, I’ve argued for years that the aesthetic and physical subjects develop areas of personality and boost confidence that helps with all areas of school life.

Today, K. showed me and everyone there that there is nothing secondary or inferior in worth in the aesthetics.

She was not the only one. Every child on that stage and in the choir took on roles, some of them humorous – a difficult thing to pull off- all acting and singing their hearts out.

I have seen this over the years with the Expressive Arts and P.E.. The opportunity for teachers to see the children in different learning environments, using different attributes and developing their skills is an eye-opener.

K., for me, was the one who really mattered most today because the difference in the before and after was so pronounced.

I remembered then a conversation from the staff room of a few weeks ago where one of the teachers had commented on a quiet child who blossomed on stage. This was K.!

When her parents see her tomorrow and Friday in the real show they will beam with pride. I did.

The Dance

Sentient songs and melodies

Must always melt and move.

Lyrical lessons love to sway

In arms, amour may prove.

 

Gentle gift of mellow dance,

Two held in music’s muse,

Inspiration leads to passion,

Taper touched to fuse.

 

A heady mix of cocktailed fancy,

Ardour scaling heights,

Suppressed in momentary slowness,

Heightening delights.

 

Thrumming chorus, soulful verse

Intercept all feeling,

Closing bars reach to the stars,

Heads and hearts left reeling.

 

Transfixed eyes may capture now

All that they reveal,

So sweetest kiss evolves and deepens,

Revealing all both feel.

Dance in Light

Dust sparkled particles

Of life long gone

Dance aimlessly, catching

In sunlight,  a throng,

Flittering, fluttering,

Teasing my eye

Alive once again, motes caught

In rays from the sky.

Like fairies they seem,

Too tiny to test

For wishes. Don’t trap them,

Their freedom is best.

Lightly, balletically,

They twirl and suspend there

Till sun’s rays abate

And darkness descends where

Life has been gaily portrayed

In a dance

Of light-infused feeling

Caught in my glance.

Dancing Daughter

Picture perfect,

Pointed toes,

She moves with sheer delight.

Twirling, whirling princess –

Sings and dances

With all her might.

A voice raised true

And arms out flung,

She does not have a care.

Her heart extols her virtue

No audience is there:

Except for me, a smiling mum

Watching through the glass.

Wishing childlike confidence

Might last when youth has passed.