Dance they said
You were supposed to dance
So you slipped off your shoes
Slid your barefeet along the wet ground
Let them kiss the grass, twist in the sand
Felt your shins touch cold metal
as you hoisted yourself over the fence
screamed a little too loud
and traded skinned knees for stories to tell
Felt your thighs stick to the leather on the back of a motorbike
Laughed out loud and brought your hands to your face and felt
the softness of your cheeks
The way they flush and
the bronzed warmth radiating from your shoulders
the shoulders that spent all day in the sun
Watched the moon rise like a new day
But in the darkness you came alive
You moved through mountains and big worlds
through barriers and across oceans
Watched the sky electrocute the moon
Closed your eyes and listened for it’s retaliation
Felt the droplets come to rest on the backs of your hands
Licked your lips and tasted sugar
Now hold on so tight that the memory sinks
so deep it builds roots and grows
grows so big that you know it’s not going anywhere
The only thing that’s moving now
are the butterfly wings of your heart
as it does a lap around the room
because it can’t contain the joy