english,
It was seven in the evening
A few minutes after dinner
Your father in the living room
Your mother in the kitchen
And you, still in the dining room with your grandparents.
The TV set droned on the background
As you watched them talk to each other
As they shared the last banana in the basket
And made you wonder
How the hell did they last together?
They looked at you and saw your distorted face
In wonderment of how they stayed in love
To still feel the other’s warmth in each embrace
So they asked you what was wrong
And you proceeded to ask:
“How did you stay in love? What’s the secret?”
And your grandfather said,
“Loving your grandmother is no easy task.”
“That’s rude!” exclaimed your grandmother.
“But, yes, it’s true. I will always love your grandfather
For the one thing we always love to do.”
“But we don’t want to bore you,”
Said your grandfather.
“How she fell for me is a long story
And so is how she stayed.”
“But I have all night,” you said.
“Come on, grandpa, tell me every game you played.”
“Well, it was seven in the evening much like this one,”
Your grandfather started
“And we were at a party.
A silver disco ball lit the dance floor
And I started to boogie.
Your grandmother was across the room
Wearing a velvet blouse and flannel pants
She was gaily chatting with her girlfriends,
Sipping a mojito while twirling her hazel locks,
And then our gaze met,
Our eyes interlocked.”
Your grandma interjected,
“He couldn’t stand but stare
At the beautiful woman
Staring at him across the room,
As the funky music blasted away.”
Your grandpa let out a sarcastic whimper.
“Oh please, Barbara, you even bit your straw,
Then bit your lips,
Smiled and turned away.
Acting like a lady shrouded
In mystery, undaunted.”
You can’t help but smile, by how vividly they remember
Their measly first encounter.
The unprecedented turn
Of events,
Of heads,
Of hearts,
Of feet.
“You know,” your grandma spoke in a sing-songy voice,
As if letting out the biggest,
Juiciest, secret she’s ever told.
“Your grandpa was a coward.”
You gasped, currently in disbelief,
Of how a man as charming and
Daunting, and headstrong like your grandpa,
Be a coward.
“Yes, yes. You are in disbelief,
But I assure you,
Your grandpa’s greatest kryptonite,
Are women.”
“Oh come on, Barbara—”
“But! Not just any woman,”
Your grandma started swaying her hips,
And pouted her lips
“A woman with a body like mine—”
“Barbara!” your grandpa shouted.
And your grandma burst out laughing!
She’s never laughed so hard in her life.
“Alright,” said your grandma,
“Here’s the real story.
I was the one who approached him,
And even then he still seemed apprehensive
To talk to me.
The tough guy façade he’s been wearing,
Wore off like cheap cologne.
At the opposite side of the bar, I saw
A man, mouthing out the words,
‘Hey, can I get you some wine?’
But as I crept, closer
The only words I heard was
‘H-hey girl.’”
Your grandma started to laugh again.
And at this point you can’t control it anymore.
You burst out laughing,
Turning disbelief into laughter,
Turning your head towards your grandfather.
You glanced at him,
He’s shaking his head,
Pissed off but at the same time giggling.
“Hey, come on! Cut me some slack,
I was young and distracted,
By your beauty Sweetie,
Eyes are blue from what I can see.
But when I gained back my senses—
I asked her to dance with me,”
your grandpa said.
“And the night after,” said your grandma.
“And after,” said your grandpa,
“And the next month,” said your grandma.
“And at your house
Since we discoed all our money,” said your grandpa.
“You know, boy, your grandpa,
he wooed me with his moves,
and his style,
and his groove,
and his eyes.”
Your grandparents kissed. Surprisingly,
It was sweet and loving,
And not at all disgusting.
“Remember the song,
we used to dance to,
all night long?” your grandpa asked.
“It goes like—“
They gazed at each other,
And understood, and sang,
“Dance now! Dance now baby!
Give it all and I’m gonna start!”
They sang this song and danced
In the middle of the dining room.
“Hey, child. Play ‘Hey Barbara’ for us
on your Youtube or whatever.”
You heard your gramps,
Play it!
They danced and danced.
You laughed at their silly moves,
But somehow felt really happy,
The kind of happy that envelopes your heart,
The kind of happy that radiates.
They got tired and sat.
Still smiling from the dancing done.
After a while you asked,
“So what’s your secret?”
For all you picked up in that story
Was that dancing was how they met.
“It’s simple, sonny,
All you need for a lady to love you
And for her to stay
Is to take her to a disco
And sway all of her doubts away.”
It was now past seven in the evening,
Your father in the study
Your mother in the bedroom
Your grandparents left you and led themselves to the living room.
The TV set has stopped its drone
And was replaced with scratchy radio music
With their groovy disco anthem
They danced hand in hand
As much as their bones would let them.
Inspired by ‘Where Have You Been My Disco’ and ‘Hey Barbara’ by IV OF SPADES
Literary: Take Me Back to Disco
It was seven in the evening
A few minutes after dinner
Your father in the living room
Your mother in the kitchen
And you, still in the dining room with your grandparents.
The TV set droned on the background
As you watched them talk to each other
As they shared the last banana in the basket
And made you wonder
How the hell did they last together?
They looked at you and saw your distorted face
In wonderment of how they stayed in love
To still feel the other’s warmth in each embrace
So they asked you what was wrong
And you proceeded to ask:
“How did you stay in love? What’s the secret?”
And your grandfather said,
“Loving your grandmother is no easy task.”
“That’s rude!” exclaimed your grandmother.
“But, yes, it’s true. I will always love your grandfather
For the one thing we always love to do.”
“But we don’t want to bore you,”
Said your grandfather.
“How she fell for me is a long story
And so is how she stayed.”
“But I have all night,” you said.
“Come on, grandpa, tell me every game you played.”
“Well, it was seven in the evening much like this one,”
Your grandfather started
“And we were at a party.
A silver disco ball lit the dance floor
And I started to boogie.
Your grandmother was across the room
Wearing a velvet blouse and flannel pants
She was gaily chatting with her girlfriends,
Sipping a mojito while twirling her hazel locks,
And then our gaze met,
Our eyes interlocked.”
Your grandma interjected,
“He couldn’t stand but stare
At the beautiful woman
Staring at him across the room,
As the funky music blasted away.”
Your grandpa let out a sarcastic whimper.
“Oh please, Barbara, you even bit your straw,
Then bit your lips,
Smiled and turned away.
Acting like a lady shrouded
In mystery, undaunted.”
You can’t help but smile, by how vividly they remember
Their measly first encounter.
The unprecedented turn
Of events,
Of heads,
Of hearts,
Of feet.
“You know,” your grandma spoke in a sing-songy voice,
As if letting out the biggest,
Juiciest, secret she’s ever told.
“Your grandpa was a coward.”
You gasped, currently in disbelief,
Of how a man as charming and
Daunting, and headstrong like your grandpa,
Be a coward.
“Yes, yes. You are in disbelief,
But I assure you,
Your grandpa’s greatest kryptonite,
Are women.”
“Oh come on, Barbara—”
“But! Not just any woman,”
Your grandma started swaying her hips,
And pouted her lips
“A woman with a body like mine—”
“Barbara!” your grandpa shouted.
And your grandma burst out laughing!
She’s never laughed so hard in her life.
“Alright,” said your grandma,
“Here’s the real story.
I was the one who approached him,
And even then he still seemed apprehensive
To talk to me.
The tough guy façade he’s been wearing,
Wore off like cheap cologne.
At the opposite side of the bar, I saw
A man, mouthing out the words,
‘Hey, can I get you some wine?’
But as I crept, closer
The only words I heard was
‘H-hey girl.’”
Your grandma started to laugh again.
And at this point you can’t control it anymore.
You burst out laughing,
Turning disbelief into laughter,
Turning your head towards your grandfather.
You glanced at him,
He’s shaking his head,
Pissed off but at the same time giggling.
“Hey, come on! Cut me some slack,
I was young and distracted,
By your beauty Sweetie,
Eyes are blue from what I can see.
But when I gained back my senses—
I asked her to dance with me,”
your grandpa said.
“And the night after,” said your grandma.
“And after,” said your grandpa,
“And the next month,” said your grandma.
“And at your house
Since we discoed all our money,” said your grandpa.
“You know, boy, your grandpa,
he wooed me with his moves,
and his style,
and his groove,
and his eyes.”
Your grandparents kissed. Surprisingly,
It was sweet and loving,
And not at all disgusting.
“Remember the song,
we used to dance to,
all night long?” your grandpa asked.
“It goes like—“
They gazed at each other,
And understood, and sang,
“Dance now! Dance now baby!
Give it all and I’m gonna start!”
They sang this song and danced
In the middle of the dining room.
“Hey, child. Play ‘Hey Barbara’ for us
on your Youtube or whatever.”
You heard your gramps,
Play it!
They danced and danced.
You laughed at their silly moves,
But somehow felt really happy,
The kind of happy that envelopes your heart,
The kind of happy that radiates.
They got tired and sat.
Still smiling from the dancing done.
After a while you asked,
“So what’s your secret?”
For all you picked up in that story
Was that dancing was how they met.
“It’s simple, sonny,
All you need for a lady to love you
And for her to stay
Is to take her to a disco
And sway all of her doubts away.”
It was now past seven in the evening,
Your father in the study
Your mother in the bedroom
Your grandparents left you and led themselves to the living room.
The TV set has stopped its drone
And was replaced with scratchy radio music
With their groovy disco anthem
They danced hand in hand
As much as their bones would let them.
Inspired by ‘Where Have You Been My Disco’ and ‘Hey Barbara’ by IV OF SPADES
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