I Watched a Girl Dance

As nature’s rays reflected and refracted on her glossy shoes

Sending streaks of glistening purple across the corners and aisles,
She stood; arms akimbo, hairs in place, one foot half-raised in readiness
The audience, hushed, in expectant anticipation, waits.
Commencement!

 A twirl, a twist, a turn, all rhythmic; all artfully choreographed

Her body, fluid as liquid, followed where the wind blew
She hopped and skipped like the rabbit she imitates, floated like a feather,
Slithered like the snake, and like the fish, she swam against the tide.
A roar, as her victims fell by the side in heaps!

Colleagues and competition stood; first in shock, then awed and amazed;

The audience, friends and foe, swooned with every sway
First, left, then right, east, west, north, south, and back.
For every dip, every twist, every pirouette, and every bob,
A cheer of appreciation.

 Hearts skipped beats as she meandered through tiny cracks of resistance;

Stooped to avoid a collision, or halt in mid Lutz to save a bad fall.
Like Monet, Matisse, Rembrandt, and others before and aft,
She used every color on every surface of her chosen canvass,
And left indelible images in the recesses of her audience.

Chants of her name rent the air; more! More!! More!!

Friends, foe, and the indifferent alike joined in her praise
And chant for more!!
And she gave, with every move, every strut, every turn, every flail
She poured, and they drank it all in satisfaction

 Hazy images of Romero, Bebeto, Messi, and Jay-Jay, Drogba;

And the greatest of them all, Pele, flashed through minds.
I, too, watched in awe; whistle suspended, watch stopped;
Cards still in place; red, yellow, pencil and pad,
As I watched a girl dance for sixty minutes with a #5