Dancing with Guy Montag–a poem

In a black and quiet room
I danced myself plum breathless
to the soothing sound of songs I once had heard.
Every atom that would have been there
had a radio played was present
but just pushed to different places.
More were pushed to my mind, I think,
as I had to recall the songs
rather than have them given to me
from a source outside myself.

Having to choose what song to listen to
out of all the songs I’ve ever known
showed me just how special they all are.
I wanted so many of them to be next,
hated putting so many of them
in any position other than that.

I imagined I was in some dystopic future where
they look the power when they took the computers,
when the gennie had died and paper money was
only good for lighting fires
and you couldn’t get to the other kind.
I imagined a wilderness world where I had to kill to eat
and bullets were in short supply,
all life lived as a slow path to a death that
wouldn’t be totally unwelcome.

Then I told myself I was just being silly, that
stuff like that could never happen, and I
set my mind to choosing what song to play next,
knowing whichever one I chose would be so deserving.
I grabbed a smile tossed down by God
and set my feet to stepping.

***

This one was fun to write. It’s really just foolishness. While there is bound to be ugliness in the future, I don’t worry about that stuff; it just makes for good story. The real focus here is the music; it always is. Nobody will ever be able to take that from us.

I’m thinking warm thoughts about you, my friends. Keep the faith.