A Brief Tango

- a brief tango - I see from this pestering pedestal, And what’s that I see? Gazelles and antelopes of the Savannah Or the deceits of a mooting brain? I see them – a careful pick of a generation In pairs they ambivalently search emotion They dig heads in each other’s bosom Like the diving crocodiles of the Nile! They tango in the Savannah and the city Beside the bushes and beside the chapel As the acacias tango in the wind, They too tango in crumbs of love; I don’t see male or female – but they tango In decorated and animated gestures they pry And promise to liven an inner mongoose Thence my lips betray the cynicism beneath. For with every tango-ed pair must be care Lest on others’ toes you plant your tarsals And there a tumult invoke among lovebirds! And doughy cheeks won’t suffice for mediation. A sandaled pair walks in enviable elegance It’s a political wedding generously regarded A model for the monkeys and the gazelles But the rings are earthen and untrue. Who will answer me – for lovebirds go in But only dust and vapour see I from the arena! Purpose and life enter, penury and despair exeunt I too want to tango, but will it be a brief tango? MS26072016