Fox Trot Fridays
By Rita Dove

Thank the stars there’s a day
each week to tuck in

the grief, lift your pearls, and
stride brush stride

quick-quick with a
heel-ball-toe. Smooth

as Nat King Cole’s
slow satin smile,

easy as taking
one day at a time:

one man and
one woman,

rib to rib,
with no heartbreak in sight—

just the sweep of paradise
and the space of a song

to count all the wonders in it.

From American Smooth, published by W.W. Norton. © 2004 by Rita Dove, used by permission of the author.

Copyright © 1997-2006 by Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.

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