#napowrimo Day 25 - “The Dance”

Hey, y’all! On Day 25 of National Poetry Month, the prompt is to write a poem that recounts a dream or vision, and in which a woman appears who represents or reflects the area in which you live. Here’s my poem:

Day 25 - THE DANCE

By Farah Lawal Harris

I have this recurring dream:

I am in high school

but everyone is today years old

and a woman I don’t know

invites me to a school dance with this dress code:

Booty. Butt. Naked.

“Iono…” I say, 

but when the day comes,

FOMO kicks in:

“What if I miss out on all the fun?”

On the night of the dance,

butterflies beat their wings in my belly.

I leave home in a black, satin robe

and take it off right before heading inside

as to honor the dress code.

And wouldn’t you know

everyone’s fully dressed

while I’m nude, looking like a fool?

I don’t fight or flee, but freeze

while everyone stares at me.

I shrink.

Sometimes in the dream,

I run out crying like Carrie covered in pig’s blood;

other times, 

I try to play it off and move with pride,

make small talk with party classmates

whose eyes refuse to meet mine.

And once, 

I searched the dance floor

to find the woman who lied

so her fists can meet mine.

The one thing that’s true every time 

is me feeling small,

played,

enraged.

Then I wake up.