After Pina (for Wim Wenders)

Balancing brancheson his shoulders,a man stackingchairs, threestories high.Slide on water, swimfor your life.Leap for joy, generosity.Sacrifice.Why thisyearning?I wantedto give herlightness.I forgot I was shy.My fragilitywas my strength.She told me to dancefor love.He wears demon ears,sits in the last seat.She stompsthe pillow.They thrust hips,buttocks bulgethrough shiny dresses.Little dog nips his nimbletapping heels.Ah to be old.Ah to be young.Words can onlyevoke. That’s wheredancecomes inagain. At the edgeofa cliff.Very carefully, two floorsup…from the icywindowsill,the Traveler enters.Dance, dance, orelse we are lost.Under the flywayon top of the glacierrestrained by a ropeshoweredwith dirt.Wheredoes this yearningcome from?O woman in the redbillowy dress,dance for me.Dance, dance,or else weare lost.In the forest,at the bottomof the lakein the mine shafthundreds of feetbelowthe ground.Tap chestthree times, nodyour head.Give into gravity,resisthold back. Unwrapembracespring upagain.Dance, dance,or elsewe are lost.January 14, 2012-Louise Steinman