Dancing With Strangers
Everyone looks so old at class reunions.
Nipped and tucked and tightened and dyed
We vehemently deny our wrinkles and aches and pains.
Pretending to know people we don’t recognize,
Creating a history to cover up our flagging memory.
Do you remember when…?
Prince Charming
Appearing at the door of the ballroom.
I remembered him but he never knew me.
But in a moment of total abandon
I demanded his attention.
Do you remember me…?
I don’t recall the song or how long the dance lasted.
I only remember looking up at him and thinking
This was one of those brief vignettes of perfection
That happen in your life.
His hand on my back,
The warmth of another body pressed to mine.
A laugh, a smile.
Isolated moments with no connection to anything else.
For three minutes I could imagine loving him.
He was the center of my world.
Until the moment ended
The dance was over.
A new song played for other might be lovers in parallel worlds.
Will you remember me…?
And now months later
The minutiae of our lives
Have taken command of our thoughts
Clouding our memories.
I wonder what might have happened if we had a day
Instead of just a song.
Do you remember when…?