******
When the news is merde piled upon merde
what’s left to do but dance
shaking off those flooding tears
and dancing
take your bad knees and your trick hips
and put them through their paces
dancing, forgetting nothing
while body blows are dealt to flooring
and rhythmic shoes and boots pound yesterday’s
unvacuumed mirk into resolve
dance like fools, like motes in sunlight
like lovers parting
dance for those whose time is up
their names pressed into ice and asphalt
dance for the Renees that were
and the Alex-es that are yet to come
dance for kindness
dance for hope
dance for when you were
a child at a party
unbound, unaware, unafraid
dance that good old Brownian motion
that you do when no one’s looking
dance for those who would but can’t
in the firelight
in the moonlight
in the floodlights
in the middle of a berserk world
why, look at us,
with tremors, rage and fear
we’re dancing
******
Little Home In The Valley 