Halloween Skeleton Disco was in full swing tonight
They were throwing each other around in the glittering light
Some of them hit the wall when their partners tossed them
Their legs and arms askew, and their heads doing a spin
It was interesting to the rest of us, scary to some
Don’t say a word cautioned my dad, my aunt and my mum
We were peeking at them through a peep holes in a wall
It was fun watching them do the Watutsi, the twist and the crawl
Little nutmeg will now recite her poem...
I sit quietly on your spice shelf,
You notice the others, never myself,
a humble tin of ground nutmeg.
Please hear me. I don't wish to beg.
I wait here, nightly, wide awake -
please put me in your pie or cake.
Thank you, Ms. Nutmeg. Uhoh, it looks like she's doing an encore...
Please put me in your cake or pie.
If you don't, then I should die,
longing to be gently sprinkled
by your loving hands, so wrinkled,
into a pudding made of rice.
Don't you think that would be nice?
Verse 1
Epitaph for the Queen of the Night
A starlit siren, she shone so strongly bright,
The radiant, raving ruler of the night's riot
right.
Her dance a dream, her dress a diamond
delight,
Now silence seals the stage, the spotlight
still so slight.
The final fade, the curtain closes calmly,
clear,
Her music memory,missed moment, mist
most marvelous here.
Verse 2
Epitaph for the Dance Master
The king of the tounship (1) , a crazy champion came,
A body bent to beating drums, a legend's
lasting lame.
He spanned the shebeen stage, a shining
storm of movement mean,
Shebeen queens quaked and wept at the
dancing scene.
The beauties bleeding blushes, threw their
threads,
He leaped from tables,laid problems to
peaceful deads.
His rhythm's a ripple on the river.forever
flowing free.
The dance just disperses,but his beat
belongs to the ground and the sky.
1. Tounship--township,location, slum, ghetto,
Electric pulse - it's sharpness
Biting....stinging
Gyrating forms become one
Changes in hue altering the mood
In the night time
You feel the Sparks flight
Resurgence through motion....
Life's Genesis
One moment retained forever
The next quite by chance
Together.... But chaotic
Vision upon vision
They take their stance
To fly or run
Always, forever to dance
Classical is from the Middle Ages
in the mid-1940's we had Bebop
a fast-tempo 19th / 20th century Jazz
then along came Doo-wop
with group harmonies
the 50's brought us rock and roll
which developed the 1960's
(sad to say) Disco and its glitter ball
then psychedelic pop rock
blues and folk rock
and in the 1970's it was Hip-hop
and also Rap
which was misspelt
it should read 'Crap'
the 1980's were synthesised
1990's gave us Garage and Grunge
2020's saw online streaming
by the record industry which makes me cringe
Country music (C&W) too (hit or flop)
I know it's true I left out (Reggae) more than a few
but no matter the genre tempo or key
the self-same seven notes do it for eclectic me
Disco Music
Strobe light looks like moon-sun.
Halo lights of red, blue, yellow, green.
He wears classic Saturday Night Fever white.
She has a white flower in her hair,
head and hips swivel;
one-strapped red dress.
He points with hands over head.
Ballroom floor bittersweet-blue.
Celebration of disco music.
I was dressed in strapless purple.
Burned my bra.
This stamp doesn’t nearly catch
the falderal - not the nasal and falsetto
of the Bee Gees, nor the confident swagger
of Tony Manero. I will survive, my motto.
The couple on this stamp look too happy,
too peppy, maybe preppy, almost ‘50’s.
I remember the crowds, the loudness,
the vulnerability, the period; that Mom
had me ask Dad for money to go.
They let me. Strobe light shadows
of chiaroscuro amidst flashy night.
The stamp is too clean cut.
Some of you, will in memory, may fondly recall.
Enchanting, colored dance floors, you all had a ball!
When women still wore stunning, gorgeous dresses,
Unafraid to wear makeup, and sport long, shiny tresses.
No, you were not vaping or drugging it up, to be cool.
You did not want to be a stoner or be the town fool,
Youeven wore pricey perfume, just to reel in a mate,
Some tall dude, with agility to dance, was to be your fate.
It was kismet, the moment you stared in a dance partner’s eyes.
You both as if floating, on air, in amorous,cloud like disguise
The lit, multi-colored dance floor, The Bee Gees music filled the room.
You looked up, and there your shiny prince stood~love musically! in bloom!
3/29/2024
the music was pretty flat ~ but her sun shone in stereo that day
mono was never enough for me ~ double vision leads me astray
anyway i couldn't stop staring ~ inner man gave the game away
a pretty awkward moment ~ goddammit what am i trying to say
my first slow dance with a girl ~ physics biochemistry on display
serotonin shakes up hormones ~ love and lust obviously not gay
By
David Kavanagh
#We are what we are, this is not homophobic#
Lit up balls sparkling bright
Hanging like a big bright light
Over a dance floor like a stage
People dancing a new craze
Disco is catching on fast
I wonder if it's gonna last
One arm staying by your side
The others swinging way up high
Up and down as you shake
Your bottom half like a quake
It was soon brought into life
As John Travolta stayed alive
Making disco really known
It's popularity has grown
Like a lot of fads have done
But this one was really fun
Everyone's booty was grooving
There was always someone moving
To this new sound that's outrageous
Dancers would become contagious
With the beat loud and blasting
As a disco ball was casting
Circles of love and romance
That went smoothly with a dance
Lit up balls sparkling bright
Hanging like a big bright light
Over a dance floor like a stage
People dancing a new craze
Disco is catching on fast
I wonder if it's gonna last
One arm staying by your side
The others swinging way up high
Up and down as you shake
Your bottom half like a quake
It was soon brought into life
As John Travolta stayed alive
Making disco really known
It's popularity has grown
Like a lot of fads have done
But this one was really fun
Everyone's booty was grooving
There was always someone moving
To this new sound that's outrageous
Dancers would become contagious
With the beat loud and blasting
As a disco ball was casting
Circles of love and romance
That went smoothly with a dance
I’m just sitting here in the cold
Feeling oh so I old
Sipping at my beer
Thinking of someone dear
A pair of tight jeans I remember
At a Disco in December
She was talking to an old friend
The band playing until the end
She had swept her hair like Farah Fawcett
Made her look like a movie star you bet
And we danced to the Disco beat
A first night together so complete
We married later in the year
In a little church so dear
Now it’s been over 40 years
Still together those memories so clear
© Paul Warren Poetry
Nyla the disco queen was glitzy and groovy
Gyrating like a mirror of fancy prisms
Throwing flecks of light around the room
I was mesmerized, could not stop watching her
She was as dazzling as any chandelier.
Others began watching her.
I glared at them.
She was mine to watch.
Disco squirrel now will reach for the stars
I watch and he takes off; being all ours.
The onlookers are amazed as he goes into a spin.
It’s amazing the fantastic shape he is in!
It’s all that chasing he does during the day.
He has a girlfriend, and boy, do they play!
They have worn a path around my oak tree.
I smile at the warm happy memory.
How did he get his name? A newcomer asks. And why?
Watch him for a few seconds, I eagerly reply.
Oh, wow! He does have the moves! She says now.
He can twist and groove and he packs lots of pow!
Years ago, almost too long to remember
I was young, full of daring-do, and crazy
In the deepest snows of late December,
The things I did are somewhat hazy!
Driving snow-covered streets at night
Sometimes the only auto out and about,
Heading toward the Disco, out-of-sight
But there would be a crowd of us out.
Dancing the night away to “I Will Survive”
Imbibing too much, laughing with glee,
It’s a wonder most of us are still alive
Someone special must’ve taken care of me.
Ah, I remember those crazy days, do tell,
Music that has stayed with me unscathed,
The carefree attitudes, yes, a ne’er do well
Stored up in my memory, magically saved.
Written October 5, 2022
She was the liveliest teenager at the disco ball hall.
Her mushroom head hat made her sixteen feet tall.
She shimmied and shook, and had a terrific time, a real ball.
We could barely get her peeled off a fellow named Wall.
Wall was frightened of her, she was all that and more.
What kind of teen is she? He asked a girl named Lenore.
She used to be my friend, but she has too many polka dots now.
The liveliest teenager with mushroom head hat, was still kind of a wow.
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