0057 Strict Tempo - A Poem To Dance To Poem by Michael Shepherd
0057 Strict Tempo - A Poem To Dance To
One Two Three Four
One Two Three Four
Forwards. Sideways.
Sideways. Back...
Victor Sylvester, Victor Sylvester,
I thought of you yester-
day, white tie and tails,
trousers as tight
as a ball without a ballroom,
Cuban Romeo moustache and
patent leather hair...
drumming out strict tempo
the tempo of our lives
learning to dance girlfriends
into bed or into wives...
do they still teach ballroom
to your hissing records,
down in Cheam or Purley,
head up, shiny shoes,
pressed tight, breast to breast,
adolescents wondering
if a jockstrap would be best?
now it's coming back, I see,
One Two One Two
swing her round and pronto,
but watch, don't dropp her onto
that shiny shellacked floor...
Ou sont les disques d'antan, je me demande?
....gone and played, the yesteryears..
our sweaty-sweet Sylvester years..
one two, one two,
our memory's locked embrace...
Nifty footnote for the younger set: Victor Sylvester's Ballroom Orchestra specialised in music for dancing; tapes still used, I'm told, by ballroom dancing teachers, and now revived thanks to hugely popular 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'Dance Fever' on TV.. Get with it, Twinkletoes...
...you told me you 'felt a poem coming on' on Sylvester. I have only heard of the man through some quip of Beatles-era Lennon. I've been to Cheam but never to the Purley-white-gates (ahem) , mercifully...I left a comment on your WS poem...I am still too young to be nostalgic, but I liked the jockstrap concern...adolescents haven't changed aside from the glue, the drugs, the mobile phone, the alcholism, the 'happy-slapping', the gang warfare seige mentality...actually, I think I prefer the adolescents depicted your poem....heh heh...I bet this was a treat for you to write, Michael. As Dan Maskerville (sic?) used to say: ' good shot, Martina! '
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Delivering Poems Around The World
Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge...
4/18/2024 4:03:19 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Amazing use of words. Outstanding poetry for the dance.