"With each breath


God takes


from the heavens above

two hearts beat

as one

on this carousel of love.

In this gift

that we share

through the movement of dance

the sparks begin to fly

with the choreography

of romance."




On the middle shelf of a music library

two long playing records

were always filed away together in this permanent collection 

side by side

as if it were a divine act of karma.

Tales from the Vienna woods by Johann Strauss

and right beside it,

Por una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel.

The vision of loveliness on the cover of the Strauss LP

was Henrietta, a famous ballroom dancer of Strauss waltzes.

The hands0me young man on the cover of the Carlos Gardel LP

was Alfredo, a well know tango instructor in his native country of Argentina.

Henrietta and Alfredo met every single night in this secret rendezvous

as the turntable would magically starting spinning

at 33 revolutions per minute.

Like two holograms in perpetual motion

they would teach each other

how to dance the waltz and then how to perform the tango.

By daylight the rotating disc stopped turning

and the happy but exhausted dancers returned to their record album covers.

"With each breath

God takes

from the heavens above

two hearts beat

as one

on this carousel of love.

In this gift

that we share

through the movement of dance

the sparks begin to fly

with the choreography

of romance."

Part 2 : Carousel of love

The one and only Chubby Checker teaches Henrietta how to get down and do the twist.

Red Molly from Dublin teaches Alfredo the discipline of Irish step dancing.

************************************************

She still seems

sensitive

about my kiss.

Although it's something dear

I don't want

to miss.

We lay quietly

together

on her first day home.

The heart is a nomad

which needs

to roam.

Wherever you go

I'll go

too

by holding your hand

and seeing this

through.

In the mirror

her baldness

can't dry her tears

but turn around darling

and we'll confront

your fears.

As I place a kiss

upon

her head

love is the bond

we share

in bed.

I am a man

whose loyalty

is here to stay.

Your hair will grow

back

another day.

The heart is a nomad

which needs

to roam.

We lay quietly

together

on her first day home

and wherever you go

I'll go too

by holding your hand

and seeing this cancer

through.

************************************************ 

She opens the lid

but apparently

doesn't see

there have been subtle changes

in someone

like me.

The music starts to play

with the precision

of a clock.

At the sound of Tchaikovsky

I would like

to balk.

So I protest my restraint

with the will

to be free

and take

the next step

quite naturally.

She's just a little girl.

How can

she know

when a ballerina

is getting tired

of this peep show.

Now don't get me wrong.

I'll still do a pirouette

for you.

It's only now

that a gender change

is long overdue.

I wear a jockstrap

with big

hairy legs

as the anarchist in me

teases

and begs.

This moment is high camp

although

not insincere.

Please accept me now

when my culture

is queer.

I require liberation

and the right

to survive.

Oh darling,

I'm thrilled

to be finally alive.

So if I am a prisoner of fate

and here

all alone

then let this music box

be

my comfort zone!

**************************************************

I just walked

through your garden

where sweet flowers grow.

The rhythm of wind chimes

is how lovers

flow.

Your ethereal kiss,

in the moment,

is so sublime

as we reached

a quiet death

in harmonic time.

I feel your warm breath

and it engulfs

me

into every blossoming flower

that I can

see.

So I tend to red roses

and float

on air.

It's simply because

you

are there.

My eyes are now closed

as I have

your scent.

From God to me

you were

heaven sent

and in this perfect art

will will always

know

of falling silent

to the union

of our afterglow.

*****************************************************

Please comfort an old woman

and bring me

my shawl

she said

to the memory of two portraits

hanging on the wall.

"It's been far too long

since

you both left me"

while she acknowledged the fact

they were once

a family of three.

"I grieved over my husband

losing his life

in a war.

Then our son followed his father's footsteps

and it happened

once more.

So please comfort an old woman

and bring me

my shawl

before the tears of the present

continue

to fall."

She fell asleep by the fireplace

as two hands

did appear

and with one on each shoulder

their presence

made it clear.

The shawl was placed

over the old woman

by a couple of familiar men

who still loved her

right now

as they did back then.

*********************************************************************

She was a mail order bride

and put

to the test

with the hardships of life

in the old

wild west.

Her would be husband had lied

and his body

was cold

when he died from a fever

without owning

any gold.

So they put her

on stage

at the Redemption saloon

because she had a charming presence

and could whistle

a tune.

The madam from upstairs

needed to fill

another room

and the bride's name

was mentioned

which sealed her doom.

It was the summer of strangers

who knocked

on her door

and telling her

in the spring

they would come back for some more.

Now the winter was harsh

and she caught

a nasty chill

although it was the grip

of syphilis

that made her ill.

She asked for her sweet saviour

to forgive

the sin

of dying alone

without

any kin.

The one eyed undertaker

carefully measured

her tiny frame

as no one paid their respects

and no one

knew her name.

Then the undertaker

walked away

but never did learn

why they called her

the mail order bride

of no return.

******************************************************************

They brought me into this world

with a short sentence

to die.

My breathing is already laboring

and only God knows

why.

We are the last of the tribes

to roam

this earth

and that parking lot

over there

is the size of our turf.

Sadly it's the air

in which

we breathe

that is slowly determining

how humanity

will leave.

My father never wanted

to see

my face

as I am now the poster child

for the dying

human race.

My mother's love was unconditional

but she must also

take the blame

for giving

this poor child

a Christian name.

My parents were siblings

from the same

bloodline

before the mind

was savagely raped

by a certain warning sign.

Madness

had engulfed

the family way

for those

who have ignored

the Judgement day.

They say the end is near

for the few

who wait

and God's last born

will meet

his fate.

************************************************************************

His belly

hung below

his wobbly knee.

Narcissus was not shy

and just had to be

free.

One eyeball looked north

and the other one

south.

He took great pride

in his drooping

bass fish mouth.

Birds would stop singing

and flowers

did wilt.

Upon his reputation

Mother Nature

was not built

but Narcissus was a visionary

and his own

best friend

by creating the 'selfie'

with a polarizing

trend.

He left the solitude

of the pond reflection

far behind

and embraced

modern technology

to become one of a kind.

Conceited

and self-absorbed

is no way to be

although Narcissus

was blinded

to what he could see.

Beauty,

as we all know,

is a subjective curse

and believe it or not

many others have looked

worse.

So if you gaze into the mirror

and feel that you can't

compete

just think of poor Narcissus

with his chin

on his feet!

**************************************************************

It's been three days nowsince you and I

have come home from the hospital.

I need to sleep in your room

as I don't know what else to do

and I cannot let you out of my sight.

Yes, my darling son,

I feel so close to you

during this precious time

of our new acquaintance.

For I am a father at last

and an older one as well.

Sadie and I were married for 15 years

before you finally came along.

You were such a beautiful surprise

and a miracle baby indeed

although when I look into your eyes

I shall always think of her.

Please bear with me if I seem distracted

but I have mixed emotions

that will probably never go away.

One day when you are older

I can explain.

Right now we have to stick together

and bond as a team.

You see, your dear mother didn't make it

when you were brought into our world.

She is no doubt looking down upon us

from somewhere up beyond the stars

and smiling

and embracing both of us

until the end of time

as one happy family."

***************************************************************************

I dropped the phone the first time

and then she rang right back.

Naturally I didn't accept her collect call.

That name crawled all the way down my spine

with a rusty nail.

A bottle of Jack Daniels would help me sleep

through this nightmare.

In the haze of the uninvited morning

the phone rang once more

and it cut a slice right through my heart.

This time I had enough bloody nerve

to pick up the receiver.

The voice was not unfamiliar to me

but after 2 years it was one that I would like to forget.

I needed badly to tell her to never call here again.

At first I wanted to convince myself she was somebody else.

How could this be?

What is left in the past should always remain there.

She is not of this world anymore.

The clear distinct voice at the other end of the line

was unperturbed by my silence.

"Do you remember, you bastard,

the night that you raped and killed me

and then buried my body , deep,

into the cold ground?"

I slammed the phone down and clutched my throat

unable to breathe.

The events of that night all came flooding back to me

and all I could hear was this poor girl begging for her life.

Suddenly the door flew wide open

and my wife came bursting in,

holding our baby daughter,

asking me why I was screaming out loud.

**********************************************************************