I think perhaps this is a dance we've all done at one time or another.
Danse Russe
If I, when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees, --
if I, in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
if I admire my arms, my face
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades, --
who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
William Carlos Williams
If I, when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees, --
if I, in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
if I admire my arms, my face
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades, --
who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
William Carlos Williams
1 comment:
One I hadn't heard before. It's such a visual poem . . .
Thanks for that one, B!
J
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