By: Irwina Samara
When You Dance
When you dance
You invent a new alphabet
One that’s spoken proficiently
In the African Sahara
As well as the North Pole,
And all language barriers in between
Are broken,
By a tap of your foot
When you dance
You say more with your body
Than all men have written before,
And all men will write after
The worry is
Your waist is a library
And most men are illiterate!
When you dance
Three wise kings
Usher the arrival
Of a new messiah
One that cures the lonely,
And the emasculates
And gifts each man a red fish
To swim in his bloodstream,
A lifetime
And feeds his cravings,
A lifetime
When you dance
The contour of your frame
Draws the line
Between the ordinary
And the exceptional
A swinging pendulum
Between the old,
And new millennium
When matriarchs hand feed
The men, and children
Walnuts and berries
Just alike
And wash their hair
With rose water and ivy
Just alike
Voodoo
O woman dancing
On the tip of my tongue,
And the sharp of my lead
Every time I reach in my pocket
You come out a flawless dove
Like staggering magic!
A hare under my hat, munching
On sugar cubes, and almonds
Every time I white you out of my journal
You scar on my skin
In floral prints,
And permanent ink
I’ve sent all my assassins in your trace
they came back
repenting in your name,
And scoping my chest
The stains of coffee on my shirt
Curiously outline your face
Clouds leisurely passing by
Conspire to take your shape
You’re on the 8 o’clock news
Every night this century,
And the radio stations
-collectively-
Play your favorite hits
Including, the statics!
O Woman growing
Out of my palms like bluegrass,
And caramelizing my tongue like bourbon
My quills are in open rebellion
Against all topics not pertaining you
What kind of Voodoo is it that
Turns quills against prose?!
How am I to win
This high stakes game?
When your hand is a royal flush
And the baize is in cahoots
With the green in your blouse
I might be cardsharp
But you my dear,
You are the house!
Irwina Samara is a bilingual poet, writing simultaneously in Arabic and English, inspired by the works of Qabbani, Gibran, and Angelou. She's a firm believer in women rights, and aspires to employ her poetry to serve the cause. Above all she aims to provoke an emotion, by tugging at a forgotten memory, or the hope of creating a new one.