Lately I’ve been having trouble reading
though many a swashbuckling yarn has made good effort
to hook itself through the belt loops of my rough and tumble jeans
pull me back into the sofa and make me promise
cross my heart and hope to die that I’ll turn down that record
sink into suede cushions and get through that chapter like I was told
without dramatic distractions in my stereo.

But lately wailing solo violin and rumbling descending flares
have been getting the better of me and I can’t help
but press my book face down into the table and sway side to side
because after all I’ve still got my legs on a wet Sunday afternoon

and it would be rude to ignore my dance partner
who after none too subtle reminder
offers an arm and escorts me onto the square rug in our living room
and then like sixth grade dances in the gym we begin
our own fumbling Argentine tango
ginger sweaty hand barely brushing my forbidden waist
when it should be pressed firm against my back
sneakered dirty shoelace feet shuffling against scratchy carpet
and instead of whispering warm sugar sweet nothings
into my ear he hiccups

“excuse me, my pants are vibrating”
good lord his mother’s calling so eyes rolling to the ceiling
hand on hip and elbows all angles
I let him scuttle out the backdoor with his two fingers plugging an ear
trying to discuss schematics over the swelling orchestra
and I think okay decidedly good riddance and wipe my palms
clean on the side of my pants rough like canvas but it does the job.

It’s only me and the music now
and holding a checkered blanket by its corners
twisting it around me like the dress of ballroom royalty
I decide dance is better this way and take a spin

as my hair slips out of that pony tail
my sparkling sequin hemline lifts off the floor
floats at my ankles.

By the time it rests on the rug again it’s late Sunday
my book is somewhere under the table with a creased spine
and I’m nestled in bed face flushed
fancying myself accomplished for the day because lately
distraction has been the best way to curl up with a good book.