the girl's silver laughter

she gave up cabinet making
for arthur murray
learning how to tango
slim legs tracing
fortunes in the various nebulae
my eyes watching across her kitchen
labelling the time

there is a paragraph
with her thoughts of country life
another with her unfinished projects

she has the i ching & some
biology texts, a random number
of facts and needs
she says tell me of your sex life
I light my cigarette
and dance in circles
with these words
I tell her
this is all in a different time
she does a rondo
dressed in a gown
of silver laughter


Kathy Lane was a girl I met in Davenport when Pat and I went to visit Suzi Olds. I flirted with her and thought about her for many months, perhaps even years. I saw her three or four times, but always with Pat around so I never did approach her. Silver Laughter was the name of a band in the quad cities in those days. This is circa 1974.