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It was all music except for the ferris wheel
riding drunk kids and hipsters high above the waiting line
while the pounding beat, too loud too close,
soothed out over the bay and off into the night
the drugged out hippies were hanging there too
and looked cool without caring
while you and I stared in the bright neon lights
advertising false profits for food nothings all night
but that wasn’t the point
the point was the band
at the end of the night
the whole reason to stay and to drive and to fly to your arms
the band from the garage
seemed almost stunned still
standing up on the stage
and offered the press of all of us
a whole album
for us! their whole album
one song at a time
the music was all except there was dancing too
and I swirled in a sweatshirt that had once been yours
and you closed your eyes and moaned with your head back
like you do over food
over sex
over anything passionate present and real
you sucked air through your teeth and took both of my hands
and we danced and we jumped and I smiled because
never had anyone made me want to dance like you did
and I really like dancing
really I do
we cleared out a space for ourselves and like every time else
all else disappeared
except me and the music and your raptured self
and the hippies, of course
dancing behind you for all the world
with hula hoops and props of all sorts
interpretive dances, competitive dances
with feathers and fedoras they danced
and sometimes I laughed because I was joyful
and sometimes I laughed because of them and their joy
and sometimes I laughed because I felt free
it was music forever but really just for an hour
and then we piled like everyone else into line
for longer than we had listened to music
but the music continued while we waited for buses
to take us back to my shining seedy city
we clung to each other in sleepy standing stillness
and waited because there was no other choice
but really it could have been worse
the night air was cool and the island looked over the bay
to the perfect skyline all covered with stars
and there were balloons! a long tethered line with little blue lights
were floating away on a string in a lost arc
an arc, a huge arc cut loose like fish
now a stairway to jet liners
cutting its lit way through the perfect dark night
above us it was all music and blue light balloons
but here in between us it was perfect and right
