mancini and mood lighting

a symphony of saxophone and jazzy drums plays

for a crowd of men in wide collared shirts and women in boxy dresses

in their hands are drinks

martinis and manhattans 

with glistening ice cubes inside their glasses

this dream world smells of cigarette smoke and floral perfume

and exists only when you put on a record

and listen close

when I was young, I wanted to be the girls on the covers of the albums

that played these 60s dreamlike tunes

with catlike eyeliner and carefully styled hair

dressed in colorful clothes 

and adorned in jewelry of rubies, emeralds and sapphires

and maybe diamonds

for I was told they were forever

I wanted to put on one of these records

Henry Mancini's "two for the road" 

or Burt Bacharach's "Alfie" 

and dance with a boy in a tailored suit

to twirl and watch my short pink dress sway as I moved

and hold his hands 

dancing like they did in the movies

now as I listen to these albums, 

alone

I wonder if he'd dance with me 

the boy I always pictured back then

I lie on my couch as the record plays

imagining this moment once more

because in my heart

we'll have that one dance

it'll feel like 1965

we'll be serenaded by saxophone 

and be so deep in love

someday

I hope you will dance with me.