As she walks up her driveway carrying bags of food
a gentle breeze ruffles her hair.
The air is crisp and she can smell autumn arriving.
She loves everything about autumn.
The trees changing colours, the cooling breezes,
the warming glow that the sun radiates as it sets
earlier and earlier in the afternoons.
As she opens the door to her apartment she
is greeted by her cat Lucy.
With Lucy in tow she carries her bags of food
into the kitchen.
Just a minute Lucy, food is coming she says to her
cat who is already sitting neatly next to her bowl.
With Lucy feed she grabs a glass from the cupboard
and pours some white wine into it.
She takes a sip, empties a small bag of peanuts into
a bowl then walks over to the TV and turns it on.
Lucy, having finished her food jumps up on the
couch next to her and curls into a small ball.
I probably should eat something substantial, she says
to herself but she's not really hungry.
Surfing through the channels on the TV she
can't settle on anything. It's all too depressing
and after the day she's had today she really doesn't want
to hear any more bad news.
What's wrong with people Lucy?
Why is everyone so mean and nasty these days?
Is it really so hard to be kind and considerate?
And, and, since when is being polite a bad thing, tell
me that Lucy.
I mean, just because I'm not married and have kids
doesn't mean I matter less in the big scheme of things
does it?
I did have a plan for my life and it just didn't include
a family. Don't know why it's so hard for some
people to get that not all of us seek coupling
or to create families.
My goal was to not get married, my goal was to
fulfill my dream that I had nurtured since I was
barely five years old.
How was I to know that destiny was going to step in
and crush my dream? Suddenly she has a flashback
of the accident and she can feel her body tensing,
her heart beating furiously and tears threatening
to overcome her.
Oh, Lucy, will the pain ever go away?
As if Lucy understands her, she suddenly jumps up
and settles in her lap.
She lifts Lucy and hugs her.
I don't know why people make fun of cat lovers
Lucy, you're the best.
She gives Lucy an extra squeeze.
Lucy decides that it's time for a bit more food
and promptly jumps down off the couch and heads
for the kitchen.
Lucy, it's time for some music.
She turns off the TV and puts a vinyl on her
record player.
She closes her eyes and lets the music wash over her.
Swaying back and forth in time with the beat
she can feel her body wanting to move.
Carefully she starts to move her legs.
It hurts. She ignores it.
She has stepped into her time machine and
travelled back in time to a time before the accident.
A time when both her legs worked very well indeed.
Her little apartment has become the starlit dance floor
of the Jitterbug Club.
As Benny Goodman's Sing, Sing, Sing re-energizes
and makes her feel weightless, young, and whole again,
she dances away all her pain.
''Dance is a song of the body.
Either of joy or pain.''
(Martha Graham)
about the image: charcoal and ink on brown wrapping paper
No comments:
Post a Comment