Photo: Ellen Elmendorp

He danced: a step,
Another step,
Retreat, reprise,
A twirl, repose…
No cause for joy
That I could see –
Much cause for grief
That one might guess
And yet he danced
Such measured steps,
Repeating them
Exactly placed:
Unsmiling face
Rehearsing there,
The backdrop shacks,
A sidewalk stage
In fading light –
And still he danced,
His audience
A passing car.
(published in Carapace 2012)