When Maze & Frankie Beverly Come on in My House

Mom’s eyes close.

She raises the spatula

as if she were going to orchestrate

the gumbo into existence.

Turns the knob so that we feel

the bass thundering in the walls.

At the start of verse one,

she points to Pops,

walks over, shoulders

oscillating back-and-forth

between the melody.

Pops does the same dance

he’s been doing since ’73 —

left knee, right knee, pop, snap

left knee, right knee, pop, snap.

At the start of verse two,

Pops drops his shoulder,

bites his bottom lip,

& does some sort of spin move

pivoting on his left foot.

When he does this it’s unclear

if he’s hurt his back

or if he’s doing an unauthorized

version of the sprinkler.

The way his hands flip & turn

& slap box the sky between them.

The way Mom looks confused

as to what exactly is happening

but she goes with it, cuz she’s fly

like that & has never left Pops

hanging on the dance floor.

At the start of verse three,

smoke alarms are going off

in the kitchen.

Their hands are clasped

now, fingers interlocked,

swinging each other back-and-forth

Their feet are now music

of their own.

At the end of the song,

Frankie’s voice begins to fade

but they keep dancing. She holds

her hand on the back of his neck,

he pulls her in closer, she looks

at him, kisses him between the sweat

rolling down his forehead.

Then they laugh

& laugh & laugh & laugh

long after the song has stopped.