To hear the poet read “Her Waltz,” click here.
“This is my dream. I’m dancing!
(Do you know how to dance? Do you
like to dance?) Waltzing–
it’s like electricity.
It hurts when I walk. So I pick up a chair,
and I start to waltz.
I look in the mirror and there I am,
dancing with a chair!
I say to the mirror: ‘I’m not so old.’
But the mirror says: ‘Yes you are.
You’re old. You’re nearly
ninety years old. What are you doing
waltzing around with a chair?’
Now isn’t that silly? An old lady.
This is my dream: I see myself in the mirror
waltzing with a chair.
And that’s the end of my dream.
I once knew how to dance. I
once knew how to waltz.
And now I shall bid you goodnight.”
