New Dance Class

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

Last week I went to an in person dance class — the first in a couple of years. I didn’t realize how much I had been missing that kind of physical space until the music came on and I found myself wanting to cry with happiness. And so, today’s breath, which also reminds me how much I like to write in second person. It’s tricky, but when it’s done well it’s like the feeling of whispering into someone’s ear.

This is not exercise.

Pelvis curls over under and around

like you really do adore the soft flesh of your belly

the way it rolls onto itself

fills with orange liquid sensation.

You thought you understood "Be here now."

You thought you mastered "Embodiment."

Yet all your understandings are quiet now

mesmerized

by the undulation of your torso

the touch of your hand to the center of your chest

the sweat caressing the corner of your lips.