Contra was a video
game when I was a kid. For me now, it's a community dance.
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Last night: lights, camera, and Contra Dancers in action. |
Our community dances on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at
Short's Brewing Company: 6-7pm social hour, 7-9pm dancing. We Waltz, Contra,
Square, Two-Step, Swing.
The late, great, Dan Gorno started this dance gathering. A
testament to his skill as a teacher and natural community builder, people have
stepped into the role of instructors and callers. We
dance and we laugh and we try our best to be as wickedly funny as he was. Come on out and dance with us. Besides being fun, it's good for your health.
He finds her
near the stack
of green
plastic baskets waiting to be filled
and circles
her waist with his left arm,
entwines her
fingers in his, pulls her toward him,
Muzak from
the ceiling shedding a flashy Salsa,
and as they
begin to move, she lets
her head
fall back, fine hair swinging
a beat
behind as they follow
their own
music—a waltz—past the peaches
bursting
with ripeness in their wicker baskets,
the prawns
curled into each other
behind cold
glass, a woman in a turquoise sari,
her dark
eyes averted. They twirl twice
before the
imported cheeses, fresh mozzarella
in its milky
liquid, goat cheese sent down
from some
green mountain, then glide past
ranks of
breads, seeds spread across brown crusts,
bottles of
red wine nested together on their sides.
He reaches
behind her, slides a bouquet
of cut
flowers from a galvanized bucket, tosses
a twenty to
the teenaged boy leaning
on the
wooden counter, and they whirl
out the
door, the blue sky a sudden surprise.
Poem copyright ©2016 by Pat Hemphill Emile
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