My adamant heart
learned patience
from basket weavers
along the Carolina road
‘The Beatitudes’
by Kronos Quartet is playing
on this Thursday night
when I remember
my English and hospice teacher
“I’m in the dark!” cried Pacino
in ‘Scent of a Woman’
but the tango can make life bearable
We would visit Ernie
She said:
“Save the key lime pie for me”
while riddled with pancreatic cancer
I will never eat another slice
before I see her again
nor speak in hollow phrases
before I find the words
that suggest a quiet understanding
to all of this
Dancing out on a limb fits mighty fine with me
don't need no tango nor fandango
give me razzmatazz and all that jazz
the whole shebang to set my soul free
breaking out on the floor feels pretty good to me
don't want no rumba or no samba
give me a beat to move my feet
and set my soles free
I can rock with the best of them
roll with the rest of them
born to boogie I'm a rock 'n' roll man
the spotlight's the only place to be
anything less is second best
in the limelight's home to me
a rock 'n' roll man is what I am
We twist between songs
Footwork elegant and sharp
Roses in your hand
It is no dance, sensual.
Plays around, hip to hip
With romantic love, too forceful.
Nigh whose pretence does rip!
Innocent-shaped as clothed.
Hangs poised which theme upon
Of love, as highly descriptive.
Till slumps its woeful 'swan'.
Don't like the look of what's going on
seems to you something's wrong
the smell of corruption in the air
look around it's everywhere
can't place the feel of what's happening here
could it be something to fear
the sound of conniving on the wind
a warning call for all thin-skinned
so round and round and round we go
where it stops no one knows
it takes two to tango or so they say
but that was then not today
ask a question and they hand you
the same old automated two-step quango
one foot forward two steps back
while standing in quicksand
pose a query they'll sidestep the issue
and the matter at hand
giving you the light fandango
they'll look you in the eye and deny
it's all a web within a web
behind a web of total lies
Eyelash flashes and soft, sultry, hips
Languid, lascivious, seductions
Hot lust drips from sweet, lump-luscious, lips
Intimate, discriminate, influx-ions
Fast fingertips and slow gyrating hips
A night of lascivious influx-ions
Took one last sweet kiss from the sweetest of lips
Now no more discriminate seductions
Don't like the look of what's going on
seems to you something's wrong
the smell of corruption in the air
look around it's everywhere
can't place the feel of what's happening here
could it be something to fear
the sound of conniving on the wind
a warning call for all thin-skinned
so round and round and round we go
where it stops no one knows
it takes two to tango or so they say
but that was then not today
ask a question and they hand you
the same old automated two-step quango
one foot forward two steps back
while standing in quicksand
pose a query they'll sidestep the issue
and the matter at hand
giving you the light fandango
they'll look you in the eye and deny
it's all a web within a web
behind a web of total lies
Did you know that
Flamingos love to tango?
Three steps forward, one side step,
Shake of the hips, they end the prep.
Quick, quick, slow, gracefully slide,
Flamingos dance as colorful as mango.
Intensity of their stares should melt the room
My skin is nearly on fire as I watch
This couple beat sensual and tense an hour ago
I have never seen anything like this before
And probably won’t again
One step back, two steps forward,
Swing around and do the dance,
Keep it fast, a little awkward
A whole world audience to entrance.
Now you've got them captivated
Up the tempo, raise the heat,
Some may need to be sedated
As they wither from your beat.
Hearts loud-pounding, foreheads thumping,
Gasping air among the shouts,
Doomsayers bleating, markets jumping,
Second guessing, full of doubts.
Quite the showman, what a show,
Media breathless wanting more,
Fans elated, bask in tow,
Others crowing, keeping score.
Just the start, watch him work,
Revelations by the day,
Not all true, surprises lurk,
Act with haste, keep foes at bay.
As for us enthralled spectators
Barely able to keep track,
Cajoled and pressed by paid narrators,
Every week a heart attack.
If we can but drown the chatter,
Keep a cool head, crack a smile,
Train our thoughts to things that matter,
Take the long view, wait a while.
Let the music work its magic,
His gyrations entertain,
Learn that life need not be tragic,
See the sunshine through the rain.
RAI 5/25
Efforts should be from both sides
So the relationship not be destroyed
By one side effort only is unfilial
Often relationship get scattered
Where there is love and respect
The relationship get stronger
Where closeness is just indifferent
The relationship become silent.
1
Takes two to tango,
The star and the star's co-star;
Both just showing off:
The star tapping out the beat;
The co-star just following:-
2
The tango is on,
A political season's
M and T duo:
The MIOPOTUS leading,
And the POTUS following:-
Brazil and China dance
Xi and da Silva romance
~ U.S. in a trance
The evenings of Saturday's glow in harmony.
Some jazz whispers tenderly over the eyes.
The hands of the two are crossed on the balcony.
The nights are so bright if the two are in line.
The stars twinkle and the river is dancing.
And two crystal glasses are singing some swing.
The wine smoothly pours like drops of jade. Fancy!
It always takes two for tango! Indeed!
Those wonderful Saturday evenings...
Where love has no end, just beginning...
standing in the rain again
in the rain again I stand,
next to the Finnish truck driver waiving with a wet newspaper
or maybe it's a card deck, hand looks like a duck's beak
from the radio "Satumaa" sounds like fruits falling from trees
rolling down on the patio to find a man and woman circling each other's bulb like bodies
and everyone has forgotten why it rains
we are surrounded by tango and dresses and unsteady hands on knee caps, nails tapping on guilt and minds too hazy to recall what a promise feels like
drops keep running down my neck
I long for a glass of whatever to lean my finger and thoughts against
Reijo Taipale will not be leaving the radio anywhere soon, and someone says "we are in a movie, feels like it, right? this is too real to be anything but"
no birds are singing anymore
wax like birches are standing heavy and empty against the quiet lake
where all the horses sometimes used to swim
the wooden boards will squeak when I leave.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.