Rumba — lady’s wrap

I’m a fox and he has his hands
on me. I step back, wild.
He moves closer, twists somehow
and I’m curled in his arm,
walking forward.

I have no idea how I got here.

She says, now turn her again
and he unwraps me like a candied chocolate.
An exotic pear, un-netted.
A hairpin slipped loose.
I try to dance away
but he catches me
easily.

I’d say I was lost but it would be a lie.
The music is a leash and he is
turning me again.
I’m trapped
against his other side, walking backwards,
dizzy as a maple seed.
He pivots
and I follow.
I am a kite on a string.
Horse and halter. He smiles into the wind
and I let him let me go
into a double chassé.
Suddenly I am a stray balloon.
A missing key.

A dropped penny, desperate for him
to scoop me back up.

first appeared in Diode v5n2