Dearest body
I do not have a mind
but I embrace holy litany
of inexhaustible emotions
they quick-step me
through tragedy passion
don’t have religion a Christ
but I have you my sun
I waltze you and together
we enkindle burning wild
dear dancing partner
were you like me once
before you were human
did you permit yourself
balance on top of stone
to have higher gaze
did you tango know liberty
nothingness that binds
were you tuned like a harp
against soft wind
did you allow your limbs
to fly settle subside
lie wan exhausted under tenebrous sky
did you rise up twirl
not afraid of unruly storm
did you sleep not afraid of death
Marianne has been a music teacher for 43 years. After teaching in Hong Kong, she returned to the Napa Valley and has been published in various literary magazines and reviews including Ravens Perch, TWJM Magazine, Earth Daughters and Indiana Voice Journal. She was nominated for the Pushcart prize in 2017. She is a member of the California Writers Club and an Adjunct Professor at Touro University in California.
