Dancing for Me/Them

Walking and dancing
swinging my hips
in revolution
dancing
pushing past
unuseful anger
despair

dancing for me
them
who never got to be
here
hear
who after cleaning
caring for children
not theirs
got on the bus
with
small money
and
small smiles

Dancing for me
them
who couldn't
imagine
ease
saw only
white danger
always alert
to the moment
they would
be hit
with lash
or words
that sought to
extinguish
hard-fought
joy
from home

Dancing for me
them
who built the mills
long gone
except for signs
attributing their labor
to slave masters
who robbed and
raped and murdered
and drank drinks
while
overseeing

Dancing for me
them
who were
hung on unwilling
branches

Dancing for me
them
My joy
Their joy
a weapon
of our survival

Dancing