Oh Shadow, Dear Shadow (Minimoog, Pt 1)

I don't know
if it was just
that it was Alberta
or the time
of the world
or something else
that I haven't been able
to put my finger on
but there are things
I remember
that aren't quite right

I was OK
with choral speech
at the Jubilee Auditorium
in Edmonton

admittedly
not knowing
it might have been
possible
for us
to choreograph
the syllables we spoke
with
silhouettes

but I was focussed

on memorizing lines

at 5

I may have

had feeling

in my voice

but not

so as one could say

I was actually

enunciating

when all I was doing

was responding

to the cues

of Mrs. Kelly

orchestrating

surprise and other plus forts

with her hands

and her eyes

we performed

two numbers

that Autumn

as a Centennial project

obligatory and patriotic

at the time

there was "Shadow Dance"
by Ivy O. Eastwick
and "Missing"
by A.A. Milne

Eastwick was middle-aged
at the time
Milne
of Pooh fame
had recently died
both were English
and we were still
colonial

"Shadow Dance"
was a solitary poem
that made me feel
I had company
while I rehearsed
the lines
the trouble was
the poem was
about dance
and I couldn't dance
and I didn't dance
and I still can't dance
but with two left feet
and no wiggle
in my hips
I mouthed the words
with the others
and together
we conjured
angels
whom none of us saw
and none of us heard

so we began

Oh Shadow,
Dear Shadow,
Come, Shadow,
And dance!
On the wall
In the firelight
Let both of
Us prance!
I raise my
Arms, thus!
And you raise
Your arms, so!
And dancing
And leaping
And laughing
We go!
From the wall
To the ceiling,
From ceiling
To wall,
Just you and
I, Shadow,
And no one else
At all.