Tobi Barta
Title: To Dance Again
Topic: Reminiscence and Age-Related Change Across the Lifespan
This poem was created and constructed from an interview with a friend, utilizing the exact words and phrases as they reminisced on their aging experience. These memories, images, and senses were strung together in hope, through poetic illustration, to capture the presented qualitative data in an experiential way. I hope that these words reach, resonate, and engage with the voice of the speaker and provide a new perspective to aging.
To Dance Again
Dedicated to the life of my Dear Friend
I.
I was called the Dancing Queen
One of the most fun times
I always seemed to have playmates where we lived
It was a blessing in disguise
We were more free
We were like the Three Musketeers,
Spending time together drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
We danced a lot.
Treasure those friends,
they mean a lot and get you through a lot
They were the best
II.
My second round of dancing days,
I fell in love.
He wasn’t a very good dancer, but tried
He was the love of my life,
He is still the love of my life.
He got to where he could not dance
He was in the shape I am now
You’re not supposed to cry and show emotion,
But it became too much.
We had run our course
I started crying.
It was beautiful.
III.
My life now has changed a lot
I love to dance, and I did not outgrow it
But, you have to have a good partner and that’s hard to find
If I could, I still would be out there
I’m having trouble with my legs again
When we’re your age, we look at people and think ‘that’ll never happen to us’
Before you know it, you are that senior generation
Deteriorating,
Getting older like everything else
IV.
When it gets down to it,
I have had a good life,
Didn’t quite give up the dancing
Because I have all these wonderful memories, family, friends, activities
I am very blessed
Sometimes it’s hard,
Do I get lonesome? Yes.
Do I miss having close friends? Yes.
Do I want someone in my life right now? Sometimes, and sometimes not.