September

 

I remember September, and those heady days of 1971 –

ok, vaguely –

before my sister was born and the world was mine alone.

 

Earth, Wind, and Fire –

those horns

always those horns

brought the sun on my skin,

my braids,

my face.

 

Those harmonies –

take me to those early adolescent days –

tape recorder recorded versions

dancin’ in September

recorded from tinny AM stations,

static

YEOW!

to play back –

dancing in closed-door bedrooms in sock feet

to slide and try the disco moves I saw on Soul Train.

 

Even then I wanted to dance like that –

maybe not disco but with some kind of rhythm beyond the Cree drum beating in my heart.

 

The bass,

funky and deep in my hips,

waking something in me I had seen hints of in my speeding heart beat

when cute boys

and some disco girls

were passing by in clouds of Herbal Essence

and Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific –

washed into feathered hair with gem-studded fingers

and gold-flecked water.

 

But those horns!

Those horns –

that YEOW!

are/were Everything!

Sunshine in my soul.

Sunshine in my soul in spite of any other dark, oily creatures vying for my heart.

 

Do you remember…?

those horns –

that base line –

makes me smile for those late days of the disco decade

when all I wanted to do was

dance in September

            when there was never a cloudy day…YEOW!

            when love was here to stay.

 

© R. L. Elke

Aug 5/17