tree dances

She was often sent outside to play,
because her mother had headaches,
and she had to play quietly,
or it would make her mother's headaches worse.

So she danced.
She made dances for the grass, or
the trees, or
the wind.

summers in Georgia

She took an afternoon nap
while someone ironed her frock,
and then two boys would pick her up in a convertible
and take her out to a tea dance.

She loved to dance of course -
the waltz,
the foxtrot, maybe they danced the tango
maybe the rumba.
They didn't lindyhop,

but they had a maid
who helped taked care of them in New York,
a lovely young woman
who liked to go out dancing,
and she showed Aileen and Pat the lindyhop,
which they thought was quite wonderful.

dark green silk

In the living room,
she wasn't allowed
to sit on the cushions
of the big plushy couch,
because they were down
and sitting on them
would leave an indentation.

In her room,
her tiny girl's bed
had dark green silk covers,
so she wasn't allowed to sit on the bed either.

And there were no chairs in her room.
And she wasn't allowed to sit on the floor.
So she stood and looked out the window a lot.

There was a safe in her room
where her mother kept her fur coats,
and a dresser where she kept
her perfume and
jewelry and
such.

Her mother was a real piece of work, Aileen says.

She was just tall enough to look over the hedge, and he cut one yellow tulip and handed it to her.

dust on the footlights

In Aileen's first dream,
she was dancing.

She was a tiny girl,
but she wrote it down.

She was in a theater,
and she could smell it.