Slow Dancing On The Boulevard

Slow dancing on the boulevard
In the quiet moments while the citys still dark
Sleepwalking through the summer rain
In the tired spaces

She moved slowly, ever so slowly across the street.  She had the full skirt of the way too fussy dress gathered up in her hands.  She crossed against the light, the straps of her ridiculously tall shoes hooked over a finger, her ¾ length gloves slung over a shoulder.  The traffic on Sunset Blvd was light, but then again it always is in these soft pre-dawn moments.  Her steps could seem labored and tired if you didn’t look closely. 

She moved softly over the oily lanes on her toes, the promise of a pirouette held in her gate.  Her eyes swept along the store fronts wishing that one of them was a Starbucks or some other coffee shop.  But really, would coffee relieve the absolute exhaustion she was feeling? 

Probably not.

As she stepped onto the sidewalk, the dance steps that had been engrained into her from childhood came back to her.  She began a subtle chasé as she moved forward.  The gentle transfer of weight bringing back the choreography of the hundreds of ballets she had known.  But really, ballet was part of her former life.  The life before big dresses, fabulous parties, nights without sleep.

Her new life revolved around the men in her life.  One who was at the hotel waiting for her.  He was most likely asleep, one hand curled gently around his blankie, the other hand gripping the binky he’d pulled from his mouth.  One had stayed behind.  He hadn’t wanted to leave the fabulous party just yet, so she had said she would walk back to the Hotel by herself.

She was tired, her Manolo Blahniks were killing her, her hair that had been carefully piled up on top of her head was now wispy and sweeping her shoulders.  He had told her to catch a cab, but the hotel was very close.  She had stood in the line for a cab, but really, she could see the top of the hotel, so she chose to walk.   

You could hear her name when she was warm and tender
And you held her arms around you
There was nothing but her love and affection
She was crazy for you

He stepped out of the club to make sure she had found her way.  But she wasn’t standing in the line of those waiting for a cab.  He stepped out onto the road to find her. 

 And there she was, across the street. 

He could see by the smooth graceful movements that she was dancing along the street.  Her hands moved out in front of her as she twirled her ice blue skirt flared out showing her legs.  She was beauty defined, or she was as far as she was concerned. 

He reached into his pocket and fished out his cigarettes.  He looked left and right before jogging across the street.  He opened his mouth to call to her, but then he stopped.  Under the soft half-light her skin glowed.  She radiated light and love.  Her scent was a ghost following behind her.  He had once tried to put his finger on her scent, but it was impossible.  She smelled clean, like the ocean.  But sweet like the reddest of roses. 

As he got closer to her, he could hear her humming something softly, humming the tune that she danced to.  She stopped in front of a storefront her eyes sweeping over the twinkling lights in the windows, hanging from the trees.  She lifted her hands above her head slowly spinning, the wisps of hair floating halo like around her face.

He whispered her name, a sound so small he didn’t think she would ever hear it.  But, his voice brought her to a standstill.  She turned towards him, her eyes huge.  But when she realized who it was, she smiled.  Even in her exhaustion, her smile was warm and engaging.  He moved forward into her waiting arms. 

As he swept her into his long arms, he began to turn her in slow, lazy circles.  She could see in his eyes the count of “one, two, three, one, two, three” as they waltzed on Sunset Boulevard.