At least one couple tonight at the Topaz Room
May have quarreled on the long drive over in the rain
About whether moving to a drier climate
And making new friends would brighten their outlook.
Still they agree, for this evening at least,
That dancing is something they’re willing to try.
Maybe tonight, for once, they’ll be able to feel
What they’d like to feel: that moving to music
Is an instance, not merely a metaphor,
Of life lived as it should be lived.
Other dancers may be more graceful,
But among the clumsy these two may have learned
To look at their feet without embarrassment.
And if they can’t set aside all their differences,
Maybe they can agree tonight that consensus
Is the wrong model for them, too close
For comfort in their private commonwealth
To one-party rule, to tyranny.
A dance they enjoy
Won’t prove that division is far behind them,
Just that they’re making their peace with it
As one defers when the other decides
The tune has come from afar to find them
Here where they ought to be, in the Topaz Room,
Taking one step forward, one step back.
“Dancers” by Carl Dennis, from Callings. © Penguin, 2010.
