MY METHODIST GRANDMOTHER SAID

My Methodist
grandmother said
that dancing
was adultery
set to music

how right
she was

in that sweet sway
breast to breast and
leg to leg
sin comes into its own

if you have never
waltzed
you can not imagine
the sheer voluptuousness
of it
the light touch
palm to palm
wool and silk
mixed below the waist
the warm breath
of your partner
on your neck
coming quicker
and quicker
the strength of the man
the yielding of the woman

so incorrect
so atavistic
so unspeakably sweet

he moves toward you
and you back away
he pursues you
and with the faintest
pressure
you encourage him
and watch the blood
rush to his face

not a word is spoken

no one sees this
although it’s done in public
in full sight of everyone

you touch
and retreat
meet
and touch again
in time to the
music
saying yes
no
yes
no
yes
no
yes

you dance
in a place outside of time
without thinking of your body
in that gentle
rhythmic
careless
almost copulation

one
two
three
one
two
three

the longest
foreplay
in the western
world.

    — MARY MACKEY

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