Hypnotized by you,
I am drowning,
Day by day.

In the emotion,
Of your love,
Gleefully.

I'm drowning wilfully,
Really not to be save,
Listen when I say.

Effortlessly I let my body sink,
Not struggling at all to escape,
I only fear distance from you.

Not the physical distance,
But the distance of hearts,
A distance of heartbreaks.

You say similar things,
Claiming I stole your heart,
An eternal truth this we share.

Dreaming on & on,
We even struggle often,
Our struggle goes on & on.

Looking into these calm dark eyes,
On your face full of beauty & truth,
I gain an escape from worldly lies.

You claim I jinxed you the first time,
So true- weren't we bound to meet,
It's just Time choreographed this.

I can't easily refute the blame,
After all I am an equal partner,
In this lyrical life & this game.

So I bear morally equal liability,
As we observe our love garner,
After all I am older than you.

We can't give into these tough times,
Not now, today, tomorrow nor ever,
For our relationship is a challenge.

A challenge for changing our world it is,
A bright change for a brighter future,
A betterment of your & my lives.

I know you're with me in life,
I know you're surely lighter,
I know you're much young.

Younger than my experience,
Younger than my sad lifespan,
Younger than my reborn avatar.

Happier than my own best happy,
Happier than my ever-so-pale face,
Happier than my knowledge can be.

(twas where aye met thee missus, but mooch as a natural euphoria experienced, i rarely returned to said venue, especially for many years when thy now na grown lovely lasses merely toddlers).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Go ahead and AskJeeves (or another available partner yea, that lonely looking gal or guy in mom genes), who can never refuse to kick up heals in this rollicking shenanigan – the rumor holds that said activity the most fun one can have with being clothed to another.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The caller will usually do a walk thru, which begins with the first two couples closest to the stage crew of lively musicians (frequently filling the makeshift hall with music aligned the genre of irish jigs and reels) beginning to pair off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After couples one and two (nearest the band) complete their quartet, this process (sans participants coupling off) continues until the foot of the line.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Actually each duo of dancers within the foursome nearest or furthest from the podium dons the role of “first and second” couple respectively.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The walk thru can be helpful, especially for those unfamiliar with this social activity, which encroaches on the ordinary comfort zones because eye contact plus physical hand to hand fusion necessary.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Many of the routines utilize various combinations of approximately a couple dozen unique moves, where each distinct extemporaneously choreographed fancy footwork utilizes a unique variation of such movements.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The most frequent array of moves comprises the following terms, which I located at hyperlink - www.theyken.net/don/PDF/Glossary.pdf
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Glossary of Contra Dance Figures:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Allemande Left - Two dancers join left hands about shoulder height with elbows bent down and walk a circular path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Allemande, Mirror - Two couples, facing, starting with one couple going between the other couple. Give the person you are starting to pass your most convenient hand, right for two dancers and left for the other two, and turn as described in the allemande right and left.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Allemande Right - Two dancers join right hands about shoulder height with elbows bent down and walk a circular path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Balance – The simplest balance is a step forward and backs. Another type of balance is a step on your right foot and swing your left foot over your right foot and then step on your left foot and swing your right foot over your left foot.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Balance and Swing - Face other dancer, take both hands, balance (as above) and swing the other dancer.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Baskets - More that two dancers, step in so all the dancers are in a very tight circle, place your hands behind the backs of the dancers next to you and join hands. Put your right foot in closer to the center of the circle and start to turn this basket by pushing with your left foot (like in a buzz step swing).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Box the Gnat - Partners (usually) join right hands, raise joined hands above the woman’s head, she walks under the joined hands, as the man walks around behind her. The dancers not only change positions but they end facing in the opposite direction.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cast Down – The dancer faces up and turns away from the center of the set and walks down the outside of the set.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cast Off, Assisted - Two dancers, facing the same direction, put an arm around the other dancers waist, one dancer moves forward while the other dancer moves backwards.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cast Off, Unassisted - One dancer, usually moving up the center or up the outside of the set, walks around an other dancer until they stand next to that dance facing the same direction.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cast Up – The dancer faces down and turns away from the center of the set and walks up the outside of the set.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Circle Left – More than two dancers join hands and form a circle. Hands are joined at a height somewhere between you waist and shoulders. Dancers walk around in a circle to the left or counter- clockwise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Circle Right – More than two dancers join hands and form a circle. Hands are joined at a height somewhere between you waist and shoulders. Dancers walk around in a circle to the right or clockwise.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Contra Corners - This figure is done in proper sets. The first couple turns each other by the right hand until they can turn their first corner, The person who was standing on the left side of your partner. The first couple then turns their first corners by the left hand, until they see the partners. The first couple again turn each other by the right hand and then turn their second corners, the person who was standing on the right side of your partner, by the left hand.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Courtesy Turn – Two dancers with right hands joined and left hands joined, about waist height, facing the same direction, woman on the man’s right. The woman walks forward while the man backs-up until they are facing the opposite direction.
Cross-Over or Pass Thru – Two-dancer walk by each other passing right shoulders.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cross-Over is usually across the set. While Pass Thru is usually up and down the set.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Do-Si-Do – Two dancers walk forward pass each other right shoulders, pass behind the other dancer, and backup, passing left shoulders into the place where you started.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Do-Si-Do, Left Shoulder (also known as a See Saw) - Two dancers walk forward pass each other left shoulders, pass behind the other dancer, and backup, passing right shoulders into the place where you started.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Do-Si-Do, Mirror - Two couples, facing, starting with one couple going between the other couple. Then dance a do-si-do, the two dancers who pass right shoulders dancing right shoulder do-si-do the other two dancers who pass left shoulders dance a left shoulder do-si-do.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Down the Center, Turn Alone – Two dancers, usually a couple, walk down the center of the set, turn toward each other and return to the place where they started.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Down the Center, Turn As a Couple – Two dancers, usually a couple, walk down the center of the set.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Turn as a couple, the woman walks forward as the man backs up, until the couple is facing back in the direction they came from. Then return to a place across the set from where they started.
Figure of Eight – Two consecutive Half Figures of Eight (see below)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Forward and Back – Dancers join hands with the dancer next to them and move forward four steps and back four steps.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gate and Post - Two dancers facing in the same direction, join most convenient hands, right to left, keep hands about shoulder height, one dancer will walk forward in a circular path as the other dancer walks backward in a circular path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grand Chain - Three or more woman, make a right hand star, and turn the star until you meet the third (or designated) man, join left hands with the man and courtesy turn.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Grand Right and Left - Two dancers, join right hands, pull by and give left hands to the next dancer, pull by, and continue this until you meet the person you are told to meet or until the caller tells you to stop. Can be used in squares, contras, and circles.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gypsy - a couple, walk once around each other, clockwise, and end where they started while looking wistfully into each others ' eyes.
Half Figure of Eight – Two dancers across from each other, in a contra, cross over while moving through the couple below (or above), the woman in the lead, they then cast up (down) to end in their partners original place.
Hey for Four – Two couples, facing, usually starting with the women moving to the center and passing right, then pass the opposite man who is moving forward by the left, the two men pass right in the center while the two women do a small loop to the left to face in, again the women pass right in the center as men do a small loop to the left to face in, women pass the men by the left, men pass right in the center and all return to original place.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Honor - Bow to your partner.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Improper – In a contra, when a man is in the women’s line and/or a woman is in the Mens' line. The women’s line is the line on the left when viewed from the caller’s position.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ladies Chain – Two couples facing, the women join right hands and pull by each other, then give their left hands to the opposite man, finishing with a courtesy turn to face the other couple.
Lead Through - Two dancers facing in the same direction, join most convenient hands, right to left, and walk between the two dancers they are facing. Often followed by a cast to original place.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pass Thru - Two couples facing, both couples walk forward, passing the person you are facing by the right shoulder and ending in their place (do not turn around).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Promenade – A couple, with the man’s right arm around the woman’s waist and her right hand in his right hand, and left hands joined in front of them, move in a forward direction, sometimes ending with a courtesy turn.
Promenade, Single File - All of the dancers in a single file or circle, facing the same direction, follow the dancer in front of you.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Proper – In a contra, the men are in the mens' line and the woman are in the women’s line. The mens line is the line on the right when viewed from the caller’s position
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Right and Left – Two couples, take right hands with the person across the set and pull by, on the opposite side of the set courtesy turn the person next to you.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Roll Away - A couple, both facing in the same direction, woman’s left hand in the man’s right hand, the man assists the woman, who rolls across in front of him, as he moves to his right. They both end facing the same direction as they started but they are in each others' place
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Star, Left Hand – Two couples, take left hands with the person diagonally across, then they all walk forward in a circular path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Star, Right Hand – Two couples, take right hands with the person diagonally across, then they all walk forward in a circular path.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Swing – A couple, in a position similar to ballroom position, except the man and woman are right hip to right hip. The simplest descriptions I have heard is assume the above position and then try to walk behind your partner. The dancers can use a simple walking step or a buzz step.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Turn - See allemande for right and left hand turn. A two hand turn - two dancers, facing, take the other dancers right hand in your left and their left hand in your right. Pull back slightly and both dancers walk clockwise until you get back to where you started.

Head
tilted to the side.
She blushes;
She's clay to the touch,
Flesh to the mind.

My fingers,
like passengers aboard the Santa Maria,
explore a new world-
Every inch,
Every crevice,
Every curve;

She's the Venus de Milo-
Timeless.
Classic.

Delicate
like a ribbon
fluttering downward,
pulled from her hair
by lover's passion.

Her ******* are molded-
islands along the ocean I swim-
and an art form is born;
The simple movements:
Up,
Down,
To-and-fro.
Well thought out,
but not choreographed.

Color her
like the Roses on my tongue;
Entangled and Infatuated,
They speak of Youth,
Naivety,
nervousness....

Step back
and She blossoms to life.
A monument lays before me;
the mortal
achieve immortality.

Perfect
from her
Head
to her
Toes.

If I have children
Who have children
I would be the Best
and the Worst
Grandparent
I would teacher my grandchild
How to ride a two-wheeler
A month after they graduate to training wheels
Their parents would be so mad
But I would just laugh
And give their children ice cream
I would give my grandchildren cookies
to eat before dinner
I wouldn't be spoiling their appetite
Because cookies are real food
I would teach my grandchildren piano
And give them a drum set
My own children would hate me
As the sound of un-choreographed noise
Sounds day and night
If my grandchildren stayed the night
I would let them stay up later
Then their parents allowed
and feed them all types
Of sugar and candies
Before returning them home
I would do everything
A parent would faint at
But
My grandchildren would love me
I would be the Best
and the Worst
Grandparent

It was a retro roller rink,
Skating around boards that gave you splinters,
Trying each arcade game, wasting quarters,
And how many times you could bribe the DJ to
Play your favorite song.
He was sitting alone in the corner of the side cafe,
At the booth where the floor had a giant crack,
Where his foot was nervously tapping,
Sunshine was streaming in on his curly red hair,
As he waited in suspense for
Her
To walk through the door, all confidence and smiles,
Like she was the lead in a musical.
She had that magical way of walking and skating,
Almost like every move was a
Choreographed mix of chaos and art.
The hours passed, the rink cleared out,
The sun went down over his booth,
And he continued to tap his foot on the
Crack in the floor.
But when she came sweeping in that door at
11:36 pm brighter than the disco ball,
His heart swelled like the bass on a road trip,
And as the two of them sweat their hearts out
On the rink until the wee hours of the morning,
That maze of splinters and heartbreaks,
He found that he had never been as happy as he was with
Her.

Blue stage lights on skin
The curve of a jaw
Eyes glittering in the dark,
Raw and human.
Something swells with the silence
A truth never spoken
Like a ****** of music only half heard,
Barely remembered but achingly lovely.
Some marriage of sweetness and savagery
Courses beneath the shadows of this place,
An intimate wound
It scrapes at the hollow parts of hearts and lungs
Demanding
Purchase,
Demanding breath-
Famished in its brevity.
It is made here and it dies here,
Witnessed, at least, if not inhabited.
Every other face- white as bone and as hard-
Stares, blank,
And they do not understand
But sometimes,
They feel.

Fairy lights
The trees glow and fade
Shadows stretch long, reaching for feet that scuttle back
Afraid to let light soak them
Because here it has substance.
Others bathe in it
Nourished
Faces bared to the blue and the red
Upturned as to rain after a long and bitter drought.
They know it as water
Hold it as water- it slides away from them,
A thought half formed, a memory half loved
A step toward
God
That falls into a stumble.

I am always afraid that nobody treasures this place.
Always sad, somehow, to suspect that many don’t.
They say the magic will fade with time.
They do not know magic.

Hands, gentle,
The hands of a stranger
But known, known as water
As light.
Contained within one fragile touch, the idea that hands are not weapons
The cautious testing of fingers against flesh
Innocent, a connection between beings
Who were born of blood and will turn to dust within seconds
And who only just now have become aware
That their palms are miracles.

Safety- a contract,
A careful consent  
To reveal,
To be vulnerable for a moment-
If the moment is scripted and choreographed,
The bow and curtsy of a dance both partners know,
The permission a mask gives
To tell the truth.

It is eyes which cut deep, not hands
Wounds that last for years
Resurfacing as prayer.
Silent in the mirror of another's eyes,
A vision of what we could be
If we shed our disguises as Ordinary People and rose to our forgotten grace,
If we let others in not as lovers or as owners but as fragments of the soul we all share.

That loneliness- the grief of contact- crescendos in the corners of this place.
It is loud
Louder than music,
Louder than shouts and screams.
It grows by the moment, reaching its fingers along the walls behind footsteps, digging its heels into the fragile fabric of whispers, wrapping its ghostly arms around shoulders and tracing collarbones with cold tenderness.
It is the grief of closeness, and the grief of isolation.
It breathes here, unsmothered by the roar of subway cars, the murmur of smalltalk, or the burn of a liquor that tastes like forgetting.
This is the feeling of remembering, of being, of a truth long lost but not quite gone-
Something far away enough to be painful
But close enough to be
Unsettling.

That is why people laugh here
Why they grab what is not theirs
Why they run.
That is why they shut the door and don’t return, content to float above the surface,
Desperate to,
Terrified that if they sink even an inch
They will fall forever into themselves
And, groping for an edge
Find none.
(Terrified to realize
In becoming endless
That they always have been.)
They turn away, and call it nonsense,
Begging to remain small inside.

Not me.
I could sew my heart into the shadows of this place and not be close enough to the world it holds.
Instead I press my palms against the walls, hoping to take some of it with me each day when I leave.

They say the magic will fade with time.

They do not know magic.

The dawn was no longer coming
The earth was no longer spinning
The horizon frozen.
We had moved into the deep chill
of our lives
The deep chill of our love.
Stone cold granite silence
Dancing around each other in
slow motion rotation
eyes like arrows
eyes like mirrors
words silent daggers
breath like icicles
held and panting,
volcanic eruptions seething
beneath the surface,
choreographed
hurt and rage
posing
feigning
covering up,
boiling blood
in
this frozen silence

civil, constrained, polite.

We turned around
walked away again,
alone
again,
with nothing changed
and
nothing said.

Choreographed.
Wound up.
Existence.
Wound
tight.
Everything
scripted.
Coded.
Programed­.
Everything.
Universe
on down.
All
choreographed.
Down
to the
molecular.
Predetermined.
Down
to the
genetic.
Preprogrammed
chugging
out the
all around.
Everything
wound tight.
Causing
all to
occur.
Stage set
actors
expound.
Script
written.
Written
long ago.
Designed
to churn
away.
Indefinitely.
All
preordained.

I know you can’t look at me like that-
                                        You can’t picture my rapid ascension
But I’m telling you
                                                       I was born up there in the heavens
And through a choreographed tumble
                                                          ­   I gave all those jerks stargazing a real fright
Gyrating wildly on a hot tin roof
                                                         Shining like the sign advertising
My entrance in the marquee light
                                                           ­         And all those jerks in the theatre say “Good Heavens!”

I know you can’t look up at me that far
                                     But have you seen those angels
Posing on Sunset Boulevard
                                                  Where­ they hear phosphorescent confessions
From the morning commuters
                                            And the flow of the universe quivers
Staring into their third eyes

I wanna be that guy
                                          I want those jerks watching entertainment news
Fainting under astral projection
                                                And in time
You can be my creative director
You can be my creative director
                                         Pasting me to Tarot Cards and
Fireworking my profile in the night sky
                                            I’ll sponsor a product
  And kids will line up to
                                               Bathe in the votive hot lights of my name
It’s a sign
                               We’re so far reaching

67 miles outta town and
                                    67 million miles from the sun
I know it feels righter than night when UV rays
                                                       Penetrate your credulous face
But the spirit of the west glistens much brighter in the
                                                kinetic shrines of the stubbled L.A. Agents
What a sight the streets are in the
                                alien smog of the neon lunar deities
Give me the keys, we’re going
                                                         67 miles for your troubles
In a bubble of cogito confusion


when you clear your head space to the tune of imported incense
                                                         ­  Us pretty young things take the place of
Nirvana and since then you’ve come to your senses
                                                   I’m not so doe-eyed on the inside
                                                   I’m not so doe-eyed on the inside
When you surf TV channels
                                     And gaze through a medium’s eye
There am I
                                                 The saint of the teenybopper insurrection  
The goddess of hollywood dead resurrection
                                                    ­  On a late night program
Where I’m the last thing they see when they cry

So shake a leg to my manifesto
                                          Like those UFO cults in the rock clubs
And abandoned churches did on the night
                                                           ­   I made the city of angels starry-eyed and searching for
visions, whether in mosh pits, red carpet
                                                          ­           Events or selfish decisions,
made in the name of those wizards who run the whole operation,
                                                                ­The seances, humanoid dolls and TV dinners
The astrology impacting the target market
                                        The facetious “He is risens!"

I’m a scam on the human spirit!
                                                    And you can't blame this on youth, fame, voyeurism
Or even religion
                                        But renewed faith in seeing a
familiar face, the mystery of
                                                    luminaries­ in blacklight  space
The supernova of the pop of a flash, it takes
                                      A lot of unnatural light to keep the kids
Mystified, and the aura
                                       Oh so strong

I know you can’t find the precious time
                                                                ­             But let’s take those jerks outside looking up
to a  heaven in orbit where young stars
                                                           ­   fall from the sky

Her words were thrown in the air.

I stood there.

I walked home.

I unlocked the door.

I stripped off my damp coat, unstrung my scarf.

I collapse and sit on the cold, cold wood floors.

As I do so, that’s when my metaphorical heart splinters into the tiniest of pieces.

Anatomically real hearts don’t break, they cannot realistically do so.

Which is precisely why this is so god-**** hard for it to heal back.

As you are fighting against a beautifully lucid and meticulously choreographed illusion.