gotta dance

DANSE RUSSE



If when my wife is sleeping



and the baby and Kathleen



are sleeping



and the sun is a flame-white disc






in silken mists



above shining trees,--



if I in my north room



dance naked, grotesquely



before my mirror



waving my shirt round my head



and singing softly to myself:



"I am lonely, lonely,



I was born to be lonely,



I am best so!"



If I admire my arms, my face,



my shoulders, flanks, buttocks



against the yellow drawn shades,--
(cont. after video)


Who shall say I am not



the happy genius of my household?


WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS