James Howe Second Prize (2012)
Fun-Loving
Kate Barss
For Anita
There are too many people聽
dancing in the library,
letting their limbs swing
out like scissors -- behind me, a girl聽
whispers like television static:聽
These fun-loving people
are making me nervous.
And she鈥檚 right, I鈥檝e never
felt more threatened聽
than that time I rode the bus
and tried to politely ignore
the free-spirited mouth ferociously
产别濒迟颈苍驳听Honky-Tonk Woman聽next to me, voice
warbling like a broken聽
whistle鈥� and it would be so good
to be shameless,
to krump or pump
or tango
like a strobe light聽
on top of the circulation聽
desk, or, at the very least,聽
lift my gaze from the bus-floor
I am pretending to read
and look a fellow performer
in the eye, let him know
I鈥檓 honky-tonk too.