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Modern Grace
by Beverly Smith
For Mercedes
The dancer
Turns at the edge
Of a spinning room
Marks a graceful
Reality
Elevates
The enchantment
Of the body
Room to room
Lover to lover
The dance awakens the soft
Touch
To an airy lift
I remember
The music
The turning
The height of
The leg
And I longed
For a perfect
Partner
Whose grace
Equaled mine
Whose strength
Was a
Twin to my
Way of
Enduring the
Music to the
Finish
A wandering staggering
Lengthy leap
Rose up in me
And I didn’t
Question how
My legs carried
The rhythm of
Personal joy
Or how
My arms thinned
Out to
Fingers shaped
Just at the right
Angle
I could have jumped
Off the edge of
A lively
Trill of Cagian
Dissonance
But young as I was
I held onto the
Performance
What is a dancer
After the dance
March 14, 2006