This jug is little and brown
"You and Me" painted around
its fat middle. If I could

dance, I'd have some muzzy fiddle
jazz, some Willie Humphrey whizzle
saying so, and so, and pas de deux
and shuffle off, a little traveling music
please!

Then, if I could dance, I'd boogie
all over, no stiff, hard muscle drag
for me. I'd move like Michael Jordan
going for the basket, flying up and easy--
my hang time would last forever-women watching
would collapse, breathless with the wonder of it
-dance, if I could dance.

Once, at fifteen, I sneaked
into a neighbor's backyard pool
at dusk, the water lit from below,
climbed the high board and soared
into that bright aureole like an angel with
stolen wings. My clothes fell away-I flew
for an instant that has lasted forty years.

So if I could dance, I'd aim for that heart of flight.
Come on, Willie, let's you and me crack this jug!