A flamingo asked a fer-de-lance
To be his date to a high school dance.
"Oh, you don't want to go with me.
I've neither arms nor legs, you see."
"No problem there", flamingo said,
"You can still play the perfect role.
We'll enter the limbo contest,
And you can be the pole!"
Mildred sat in her rocking chair
The setting sun highlighting her silver hair
Reflecting on her many, many years
Her eyes glistened with joyful tears
All the times both good and bad
And how she missed her husband Brad
They had been to such great places
She tried to remember people’s faces
Her mind had begun to slip a bit
But her dancing feet would never quit
Those feet had won the callus carnival
It was a memory she loved to recall
She had been there after all
She had been the belle of the ball
My Christmas tree in sparkling dress
stands in my window to impress.
She smiles at all the passersby.
She waves hello. She is not shy.
She winks at all the trees she sees
in nearby houses on the street.
She seems to shiver with delight
counting the minutes till midnight.
For one late hour wakened from sleep
through the dark house on slippered feet
I crept, while up, to catch a glance
of tinseled Christmas ambiance.
Outside the window daintily
danced my glittering Christmas tree!
With others down the street and back!
They twirled around the cul-de-sac!
Amazed I gazed quiet and still,
propped against the window sill, till
tired but thrilled I left to resume
much needed rest in my bedroom.
I heard giggling in early light
when she slipped in and stood just right.
But, she leaves needles everywhere
and ornaments dropped here and there.
She’ll have her fun till New Year’s Day,
then take a nap all tucked away.
Next year she’ll dress and dance again
with all her many merry friends.
12/11/2018
my new peach dress
so fastidiously pressed
in hope that a man will seek to caress
Strauss’s Blue Danube calls
reverberates through halls
streaming from Michelangelo walls
coy ladies smile
bright eyes beguile
captivating men’s attention for a while
as gentlemen twirl them
I, a lone femme
feel humbled, an unwanted gem
but wait
a princely man approaches with rapid gait
pounding of my heart will not abate
laughter replaces loneliness this night
he leads me to the floor beneath candlelight
this welcome twist of fate feels so right
liberated, we dance
our prelude to romance
my heart receives another chance
swaying, he inhales my perfume
scent of gardenias in full bloom
with passion, we are both consumed
gaiety undulates in each step we take
if this is a dream, I dare not wake
such precious bliss I could never remake
*Written November 16, 2014