| ABOUT US | ARCHIVES | LINKS | RSS | MONDAY COLUMNS | |

3quarksdaily

An Eclectic Digest of Science, Art and Literature

« Sandlines: Mea culpa – Can It Liberate? | Main | Dispatches: Anthony Minghella's Talent »

March 31, 2008

Monday Poem

...
Cat Dance Music
Jim Culleny

Dance!

Delphiniums winddance Image_cat_dance_music_2 
with phlox in Pat's garden.
They sway in quiet concord,
rooted in motion.

Dancing's a vital sign of endless youth;
even my grandmothers danced:
one danced to accordianed polkas;
corseted cantileverd bosom bouncing.
The other jigged across her chicken yard
with handfuls of eggs --having just left her hens
without yield-- acting goofy for a camera.

I once danced with abandon
to big-holed 45s
spun by a DJ named Jocko
who sent four-part doowop through my radio:
the Prisonaires, the Cadillacs, the Moonglows...

When was the last time I danced with abandon?
How did I do that beautiful thing?

It's best to dance with others, real gurus say.
It's lonely dancing with a mirror,
leading and following in one motion,
thinking breaking it would be bad luck.

Our cats dance to deep cat vibrations always.
Alert as ...cats to music far beyond our ears:
cat dance music.

Zorba knew. Have you seen
Quinn, the Greek, dance?
Felt life spring in rhythms?
Watched it prance on toes to a bouzouki
even in the embrace of despair?

Never. Never forget how to dance.
All innocents dance.
Only the troubled are still.

...

Posted by Jim Culleny at 01:02 AM | Permalink

Comments

Thanks for this Jim, I enjoyed it. As the father of a 7 year old, I can say that I now know the purpose of life - to jump on the bed!

Posted by: Jared | Mar 31, 2008 12:12:25 PM

You or the 7 year old?
It's a wonderful time, savor it.

Posted by: Jim | Mar 31, 2008 3:06:28 PM

Post a comment






Subscribe to this blog's feed

Help 3 Quarks Daily

Bookmark This Page

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

3QD ADVERTISING



Please Visit Wikio

  • Wikio
  • Wikio Shopping
  • LCD Monitor
  • LCD TV
  • Recent Comments

    Jesse on literary science?

    chris on Elise & Me: A Tale of Extreme Optical Seduction

    yaqoob pasha on Burqa ban!

    Elatia Harris on literary science?

    OT on Elise & Me: A Tale of Extreme Optical Seduction

    fgh on Physicists could soon be creating black holes in the laboratory

    Philip Graham on literary science?

    Ulle V. Holt on Elise & Me: A Tale of Extreme Optical Seduction

    Felix E F Larocca MD on Are Black Holes Two-Way Streets?

    Felix E F Larocca MD on After Guantánamo

    Felix E F Larocca MD on Hauser and Morris on Science and Morality

    Pete Chapman on Are Black Holes Two-Way Streets?

    Felix E F Larocca MD on Are Saint-Simonians Responsible for Modernity

    J on Are Black Holes Two-Way Streets?

    Felix E F Larocca MD on Jennifer Ouellete's Top Ten at the World Science Festival

    JonJ on Are Black Holes Two-Way Streets?

    C. M. R. on literary science?

    Jared on literary science?

    Bilal on Friday Poem

    Transleitor on literary science?

    Mike on literary science?

    Chris Schoen on literary science?

    Mike on literary science?

    Dave on Structured Procrastination

    reader on literary science?

    Acclaim For 3QD

    Best Non-European Weblog Winner


    Best Group Blog and Blog Most Deserving of Wider Attention Finalist


    "I couldn't tear myself away from 3 Quarks Daily, to the point of neglecting my work. Congratulations on this superb site."—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.

    "I have placed 3 Quarks Daily at the head of my list of web bookmarks."—Richard Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.

    "Just wanted you to know I’m one of many who reads and enjoys 3 Quarks....almost daily."—David Byrne, musician, former lead-singer of the Talking Heads, artist, intellectual.

    Subscribe to this blog's feed