Take Your Partners, Please by Amy Palko

Photo by _Teb



I remember moving across the dancefloor, linseed oil
glissando, your hand pressing into the small of my back,
holding me tight,
holding me close.
We two stepping in time,
feet moving in tandem,
take in the expanse of the ballroom,
avoiding other couples less agile,
less graceful, less passionate than we.
The twirls require epic endurance.
1,2,3,4, then sweeping into swift polka for another count of 1,2,3,4
and then back into hold.
My breathing is heavy and laboured,
while my cheeks are pinkroses flushed.
Whereas you – you are hardly breaking a sweat.
You seem so in control, so steady, so constant…
and I…am…breathless…
Giddy and breathless.
Giddy and breathless and so in love with you that it feels like our first dance together and I am a girl of just 18, naive, enraptured and true.
Our first time moving to the music,
our bodies held close,
our scents mingling and our eyes: locked.
The world retreats around us and the music fades
until I cannot hear it anymore.
All I can hear is the thud of my heart
as it tries to catch up to the beat of the band.
It’s like no-one else exists.
Like we’re dancing in a snowglobe – sectioned off in a bubble of glass,
unaware that a world beyond our togetherness exists.
Our problems,
our troubles,
our cares
ceased to matter the moment we assumed our position.
And now, the dance comes to a close
and the sheer joy of being transported starts to fade.
Holding hands, we make our way back to our seats.
No sooner have we sat down
than the caller announces the next dance.
Our eyes connect and we speak without words.
Will you dance?
With you, my darling,
always.

A true lover of stories, Amy Palko spends her days reading, writing, knitting and dreaming… well, that is when she's not being kept busy home-educating her three kids! She is the creatrix behind Bloom by Moon, an online learning community of women exploring goddess myths and moon cycles through story, journalling, visualisation and creative exercise.