Clarence White
Moonlight Dance
I wrap my body around you
and my limbs vibrate
with a tang
that rings in my ears
echo I will not forget
as I color the shape of
your body
brush my hands
down the subtle curves
comb through brown braided locks
strings of music
in tune with the night air
I do not mind being lost;
there is a band playing
behind me
leads me to starry stillness
crickets and the slumber
of the city
in which I met you
where we love, live
follow the tracks
of unseen neighbors
they spy us, smile
know the buzz in our dance
tangled limbs
swing, sway, backbone slips
away; down slopes
they wonder
if this music could ever be made
again
Clarence White reads “Moonlight Dance”
Clarence White is a typewriter poet, and curator, published in the Saint Paul Almanac, Suisun Valley Review, Public Art Review, and others. His essay “Smart Enough for Ford” appears in Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota. He is a past Givens Retreat Fellow and current Fellow in the Loft Mentor Series. He lives in Saint Paul.