Five Poems by Bonnie Meekums

 

 

 

DANCE POEMS


A precarious balance

 

Holding my feet
I need to be guided
to learn the steps


Psycho-peristalsis linking
the memory of holding


I fly - peering down
into and out the sea
a cowl at my hip

 

My spine ripples
     a precarious balance
as my focus shifts
    from head
    to heart
    to belly


And the need for home

 

 

Protecting the young

Autumn is a time of new beginnings
I take care of the young in my head
                                    in my feet
                                  in my legs
protect twin souls from the light
until they’re ready


I reach up to catch leaves
and smell the freshness of fall


I spend a long time
biding my time
in a pulsing dance
swaying with currents


Then sit at the altar of possibilities
and roll with it

 

A tiny thing to hold

 

I sway, holding my ribs
an act of self-care
my breath clear, exhaling
arms forming a salute
to the sun/son
a prayer
a Namaste


Then I hold a tiny thing
in my hands
and to my soft cheek
nesting and nestling
for a long time
until


On the floor I find
again the twists and turns
and stretches of my youth
circling back
to hold again

 

 

The dance of Spine-Woman

 

I dance for Matthew Bourne

feeling the strength in my back

that will give me flight

 

I test my wings           endlessly

this way and that

until I’m certain

I will not let myself fall

 

This is my dance

the dance of the spine-woman

I have my own back

so at last I can rest

a fledgling

enjoying the feel of my feet

 

Finding my way home

 

Feeling the tree

Its strength

Its height

I am strong as I reach

Along its length

 

Then the fern

With its flexible fronds

Moves me in waves

 

I come and go

In and out of this dance

Yet my body knows

And finds my path

Squatting

Flowing

Leaning

I am Shiva for a time

I am the dance

 

My hands, brought to my belly

A vulnerable home

Define where I begin and end

They also make mudras

A Namaste

And reach to the Divine

 

 

Bonnie Meekums is a British writer whose poems and short fictions have appeared in several literary journals and anthologies, including those by Ellipsis Zine, Tiny Molecules, Reflex Press, Ad Hoc Fiction, Briefly Zine, and The Dribble Drabble Review. She is also a dancer and Dance Movement Therapist, often writing about embodied experience. Bonnie shares a house in Greater Manchester with an unpredictable number of family members, grows disobedient vegetables, and finds inspiration in the hills near her home. She also travels alarming distances to see loved ones in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Website: https://bonniemeekums.weebly.com/

Instagram and X: @bonniemeekums