This dance

When did you choreograph this dance,
the dance you do so well?
This dance of yes, no     no, yes     no-yes-no,
Maybe now, maybe later,     maybeneverever, perhaps.
I watch you dance
and get an instant squint.

How did you choreograph this dance,
the dance you do so well?
This dance of yes, no     no, yes     no-yes-no,
Maybe now, maybe later,     maybeneverever, perhaps.
I watch you dance
and think your feet must hurt.

Now let me tell you something:
you will never find suitable music
for this dance you now do so well.
Rehearse in my presence if you will but
you will never perform it on stage,
no audience will pay to see it.

 

from Tongues of their Mothers (UKNZ Press, 2008), © Khosi Xaba 2008, used by permission of the author and the publisher.

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