.
I Would Rather See You Dance
Written By Ill..
I would rather see you dance
for nickels on the subway platform
than fly that blind furrow down
a blood-red radar field carrying seeds of fire
(Lights on the instrument panel say
NOW which in the relativity
of motion means HERE, and you
close the lever that releases the bombs
while below . . .)
Cousin,
you have told me how you leap
to a perfect stillness in yourself
when you go dancing, how you feel
the constellations wheel about your breathing
(Lights below in the darkness
blink out at the rumor of your approach,
families crowd into the shelters
while the village sentries watch the stars
for a shadow . . ).
Cousin,
I would rather see you dance
around your old army cap on the corner
than fly that dark trajectory down
the valley of your own shadow, reaping fire
(Bombs fly their almost predictable curve,
strapped in your cockpit you fall with them,
watching as the computer tracks your success
you plunge to earth already miles behind the fire
of your jets . . .)
Cousin,
you can fly from the toes of your old
sneakers if you close your eyes and fall
into that perfect darkness inside
where the blood and breath circulate and return
(Buildings bloom behind you and collapse,
blood and breath escape their vessels,
your thunder silences the mouths of the survivors
and the village burns like a signal fire
signifying darkness . . .)
Cousin,
I would rather see you dance
for drinks in some subterranean bar
than fly that tunnel of sky between stars
and the scattered constellations of your
unknown cousins
I would rather see you dance
.
Reply With Quote