A Siren Dancing in Place
by Sabrina Dawkins
Head bobbing, arms flapping, hips wiggling
you tricked me with your moves.
I thought you were going somewhere,
but you were working up a sweat in place.
Fancy clothes, seductive and tight
you curved your body like a snake,
your navel twisting and turning
trying to keep pace.
Your legs opened and closed, opened and closed
as you teased your fans of what was to come.
I thought you were going somewhere,
but you were moving in place.
Large televisions promoted your image
in sparkling clothes, blood red lipstick, dark eye shadow.
What a treat to gaze at such beauty
giving nothing but its form to dazzle the eye.
You, Siren, brought them near,
and I was also in tow.
A soft, sweet melody and a body moving
in place like the waves,
in harmony and rhythm.
I wanted to be like you.
The illusion told me you were going somewhere,
like the fixed spiral on the page that
when your eyes lose focus
forever moves
and sucks you into its vortex
into a two-dimensional fiction
looking at a TV screen
while going nowhere.