Quelle demoiselle the man next to me says. He
keeps the rhythm with one hand, taps his foot.
Want to dance? he asks me. I quake
with passion unspooling.
No, I say I don’t dance, don’t
think, don’t blink.
I take a sip of tipple to the music.
Are you here for me? dapple
my hips and smile,
Let’s ride the pony the appaloosa the
stallion I say, let’s play the beast
with two backs. He says, do you want to pavane waltz
rhumba with me, I will dip you trip
you. Kiss you. We Spanish flu flamingo,
Malaysian gavotte tie the knot, Viennese cakewalk.
Karen Miller is a 76 year old retired lawyer living on Lake Champlain in Vermont with her cranky but lovable husband and Izzy the cat. In the summer she gardens and swims. In the winter she looks out the window.