A poem by Marjorie Power
Her top-notch students have taken to the air
and flown home with prizes.
She counts on this.
Arm in arm they dazzle
online, wearing ear-to-ear.
Some of these contests, undone
by the virus, mean twice the dazzle now.
The stars have come back
twice as immortal.
Look beneath those glittered lids
into the eyes of the 60-something diva.
That gleam frightens me.
Yes, I know some skeletons dance.
I’ve seen it happen between shrines
on the Day of the Dead.
So what, you ask? Why ramble on?
Because my teacher linked me to this YouTube –
again. She hopes, as always, I’ll gain shine
though I’ve told her more than once what I saw
in Buenos Aires and still crave to be near:
ancient Argentinians in cramped bar rooms
who tango out of obsession. Couples with old clothes
and few smiles. Free in their shrunken frames,
living proof that the camera steals the soul.
Marjorie Power lives in Rochester, New York after many years in various western states. Her newest full length poetry collection is Sufficient Emptiness, Deerbrook Editions, 2021. Epoch, Atlanta Review, Barrow Street, Trajectory and Solstice: A Magazine for Diverse Voices have taken her work recently. She can be found at www.marjoriepowerpoet.com.
Most delightful
So much feeling in this poem!