{"id":5748,"date":"2013-07-17T00:00:26","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T04:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=5748"},"modified":"2013-07-17T10:45:55","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T14:45:55","slug":"dance-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/dance-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"Dance Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dancing_585x585\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dance Lessons<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tall figures dancing and oblivious<\/p>\n

to the surf-puddled sand were mirror<\/p>\n

images of a pair lithely waltzing<\/p>\n

in a dimly lit window beyond<\/p>\n

the boardwalk reminding me<\/p>\n

of what an old woman once said<\/p>\n

in a dark smoky lounge:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour dad was a hell of a dancer,<\/p>\n

God rest his soul and his feet.<\/p>\n

Too sad this jukebox is dead,\u201d<\/p>\n

she added, returning to the bar,<\/p>\n

a youthful spring in her gait,<\/p>\n

that was mine as I approached<\/p>\n

that beach mansion door after<\/p>\n

witnessing those couples<\/p>\n

stepping so stylishly.<\/p>\n

Nudging open the door as if I\u2019d lived<\/p>\n

all my days there I strolled<\/p>\n

to the ballroom where kindly moonlight<\/p>\n

sneaking through rain-chiseled alleys<\/p>\n

on dirty window panes revealed black<\/p>\n

footprints covering the hardwood floor.<\/p>\n

On hands and knees I read dance names<\/p>\n

where you\u2019d expect \u201cCat\u2019s Paw.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I stumbled off every lesson trail<\/p>\n

as if studying with Arthur and Fred,<\/p>\n

I thought of that old lounge woman.<\/p>\n

I pictured my father flat in the ground.<\/p>\n

How happy I\u2019d been<\/p>\n

that jukebox was on the blink<\/p>\n

as dancing wasn\u2019t part<\/p>\n

of my old man\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

At four in the morning I staggered out.<\/p>\n

The seashore lovers were gone.<\/p>\n

Kicking off my shoes I rested<\/p>\n

my clumsy feet<\/p>\n

in the refreshing pools late<\/p>\n

of romantic dips and whirls.<\/p>\n

I moved this way and that<\/p>\n

as if a little kid playing<\/p>\n

in his father\u2019s learned shoes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still Life with Odds<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

On the wall at the rounded<\/p>\n

end of the horseshoe bar<\/p>\n

at Murphy\u2019s Lounge hung<\/p>\n

an oil painting of thoroughbreds<\/p>\n

negotiating the clubhouse turn.<\/p>\n

It might as well have been a TV<\/p>\n

simulcast the way drinkers wagered<\/p>\n

on the result.<\/p>\n

Names from Narragansett\u2019s<\/p>\n

glory days would suffice:<\/p>\n

Whirlaway and Seabiscuit for example<\/p>\n

as well as local legends Charlie Boy,<\/p>\n

Golden Arrow and a host of lowly<\/p>\n

sorts allergic to the winner\u2019s circle.<\/p>\n

Some swore there were several<\/p>\n

canvases, switched regularly<\/p>\n

to sell shots to match the double<\/p>\n

takes but no patron driven<\/p>\n

off the deep end by that scheme<\/p>\n

ever slashed the race scene like<\/p>\n

a maniac amok in a ritzy museum.<\/p>\n

When a gent waltzed a dame<\/p>\n

from the back room dance floor<\/p>\n

to an art-side seat, conversation<\/p>\n

was not likely to commence<\/p>\n

with Zodiac twaddle.<\/p>\n

Lounge odds were set at one<\/p>\n

to nine the opening words would be<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, sweetheart, which nag you<\/p>\n

figure got under the wire first?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Loving Babies<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eddie worked for UPS days,<\/p>\n

had a security gig nights.<\/p>\n

He lived in the Federal Housing<\/p>\n

with a woman named Mae<\/p>\n

who had eight kids.<\/p>\n

The only thing they didn\u2019t share<\/p>\n

with the crew was their bedroom<\/p>\n

that was padlocked twice.<\/p>\n

Eddie and Mae had 2 more tots.<\/p>\n

If you love babies, he said,<\/p>\n

you gotta love shit and piss.<\/p>\n

The oldest boy was the best<\/p>\n

dancer in the Project.<\/p>\n

Little Eva\u2019s Locomotion<\/p>\n

was his feature number.<\/p>\n

Brain cancer killed his sister.<\/p>\n

Eddie got yet another<\/p>\n

job managing a cinema.<\/p>\n

The dancer gave out free passes<\/p>\n

and I took my date to a matinee:<\/p>\n

THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE<\/i><\/p>\n

JASON ROBARDS JR. &<\/p>\n

STELLA STEVENS.<\/p>\n

Some critics say it\u2019s the best western ever.<\/p>\n

The theatre was empty except for Mae<\/p>\n

snoring in the back row.<\/p>\n

Two grandkids worked a coloring book<\/p>\n

on the floor near an aisle light.<\/p>\n

My date thought the film was boring,<\/p>\n

fell asleep on my shoulder.<\/p>\n

The kids filled their diapers.<\/p>\n

The smell ran through the theatre<\/p>\n

killing the popcorn fumes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

McDade is a former\u00a0computer programmer living in Monroe,\u00a0CT with\u00a0his wife, no kids, no pets.\u00a0A graduate of Fairfield University, he served two hitches in the U.S. Navy.\u00a0\u00a0McDade’s poetry has most recently appeared in\u00a0Retail Woes<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tall figures dancing and oblivious<\/p>\n

to the surf-puddled sand were mirror<\/p>\n

images of a pair lithely waltzing<\/p>\n

in a dimly lit window beyond<\/p>\n

the boardwalk reminding me<\/p>\n

of what an old woman once said<\/p>\n

in a dark smoky lounge:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour dad was a hell of a dancer,<\/p>\n

God rest his soul and his feet.<\/p>\n

Too sad this jukebox is dead,\u201d READ MORE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":5801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,218,219,199],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5748"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5804,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5748\/revisions\/5804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}