Roethke's Sway
"I measure time by how a body sways" (TR)
Bong... Bong... thundered the drum.
Hypnotizing rocking hips that
Never skip a beat.
Bare shoulders glide seductively
Flexing the naked back
Exposed to the anxious pack
Of Predators stalking their Prey,
Who Prays for the sway
Her body creates to catch
A ride in the breeze and float
Away from the beasts awaiting
Her attempt to escape.
Only a moment slips away,
Under a blinking eye, as their
Mark is whisked to freedom
By a feather in the wind.
*Inspired by a line from Roethke’s “I Knew a Woman"
