WATCHING BLUE LATITUDES
in response to a film
by Delaina Thomas
it glides us into the whitewater
of inward streams lured toward open seas
the ebb and flows of filmy waves
limpid swirls flowing into taut hesitations
water-like or skin-like the fabric
of what separates us from ourselves
and our subtle bodies
or from those of other beings
there is a reaching toward someone's hands
or a turning in one's sleep
is the body moved by the wave
or the wave a movement of the body
a dancer forms ripples like a breeze of intent
over the body of another
finding herself alone, another dancer
skids her fingertips under the chiffon
like riffs
small peaks rising and collapsing
a range of fading thoughts
dancer bodies encased in deep blue
gesture what we have forgotten
in the dream when we so
abruptly woke
their hair waving as black
under the membrane of a whitening pulse
are they solid forms or seed impulses
not motionless for long
they are determined by light and shadow
they are defined by rhythms of waves
that change, enfold, escape, embrace
--Delaina Thomas
Delaina Thomas is a poet who lives on Maui with her husband and children. Her work has appeared in such publications as Hudson Review, Ironwood and various literary journals in Hawai'i. She wrote this poem after viewing the short, experimental video of an improvisation by MAE, the movement artists ensemble, which was sent to her by her cousin, one of the MAE dancers.
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