Dance With Me

Possessed of a prominent nose
Sloe eyes and sensuous smile
Regina, dancing muse
Real-deal belly dancing, repleat

with silver – snaking around
slender arms, on her ankles
shandangling about her svelte,
supple, flexible waist and hips

Her ultimate adornment was
her boa, whose name time has
swallowed, but whose image is
indelible; the trust, the sure

partnership, he lovingly
encircled her neck and arms,
living jewelry and friend

Slow their duet, slithering
in a Roma-tinged tango,
she so proud of her partner
The two cast a potent spell

Regina often allowed me to
help deliver him back to the
safety of his Indian woven
basket, his genie bottle

He graced my arms with
a cuddle. Warm skin, still
damp with her sweat from
his beloved perch, Regina.

Years later, still dancing,
Regina contracted that
slow-eating cancer, yet retained
her smile, her love of life

Now Regina has crossed over
to the side where pain is no more
Snakes in the hereafter are lining up
for the chance of just one dance

© 2014 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil

Regina Star was just that – a queen and a celestial being. She worked with us at the fabled Great American Food & Beverage Company. I have combined several instances in her life to create this portrait. Having love snakes all my life, I was humbled by Regina’s trust that I carry Jack’s basket around at the GAFB 30th anniversary. Cancer had ravaged her body, and yet she danced with the same grace and self-assurance, Jack extending his head past her hand to view the audience. A whirling force of nature, our Regina. May she be at peace.

Oh, and one word to the “eeeew, snakes are slimy” crowd: The next time you are near a boa constrictor (preferably one recently fed!), if you aren’t game to have it be on your body, at least caress it. The smooth skin, the warmth, the decidedly non-slimy nature of snakes… trust me, you’ll dig it!

Written for the Poets United prompt for poems in praise of snakes. Peace, Amy


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