Shy Feet

She hadn't felt music
in so long.

The shell of her body shielded
her from the infection of music.

Inside she was cold and empty.

It seemed foreign to her.
This music. A past memory.
She remembered how it filled and moved her.

But no more.

It reverberated off her shell
but no vibration inside.

She felt lonely for her
one and only and consistent companion.

The companion that filled her with
joy and laughter and movement.
She missed her music terribly.

She was alarmed not only
to not feel music,
but also not to miss it.

As if it was a stranger
that passed her on the street.
Unknown.

Something in her woke.
She wanted to reconnect
to try
to see if she could force music into her

She went and stood so many times
on the outskirts
on the periphery

She went to listen
and stood
but the music didn't fill
and she felt flat
and she left

no dancing
no music
not for her

She returned again and again
feeling empty

no music
no rhythm
not for her

She stopped.

Her heart was no longer in her chest
It had been thieved from her
She was empty

The smile erased
empty face

no tears, either
they had been robbed from her
She was empty




But then she dared

She WOULD face music again
the stranger and see if it would take her in

She stood on the outskirts
she watched the joy of the couples
his and his feet together
her and her feet together
his and her feet together

couples laughing, joyful
learning, laughing, moving, laughing

The corners of her mouth slightly curled
Live music
live drum
live violin

and cantores

She closed her eyes to remember

She stood closer

The breeze whispered around her
and lifted a part of her

Her knees began keeping time

She kept watch on the couples

his and his hips
her and her hips
his and her hips

Her knees kept time

his and his arms
her and her arms
his and her arms

Her hips began to move

A coro came on
She doesn't remember what it was about

She shyly took up her bag and moved closer to the stage,
still in a corner

She wanted not to be conspicious
she was still testing herself

But her knees kept time
her legs kept time
her hips kept time

She wasn't counting

Y la musica la entro

She put her bag down
She created a circle of safety

She moved
She moved

Arms
Legs
Hips
Feet

Tan-tan-tan
como los tambores

The wall, the shell
slowly disappeared

Was it just a veil?

Asi es, mami
Asi es, papi

She was joined
by a gemelo
each inspired by the other

Each keeping proper space

but mimicking
and dancing

and smiling
and joyful

and the music filled her
and she was dancing

like the dancing she remembered
the memory
the memory

of moving
and smiling

it returned to her
she moved this way
for 2 songs

and then she became shy
her feet stopped

her bag called
the safety of her journal

not wanting to lose what it was like
to feel music again

she wrote it down
she moved
her pen
to remember