dance – CleanWIP Magazine

Today’s #CleanWIP theme and collaboration is Dance. [More info]

Photo by Pixabay user Ihtar

Use the #CleanWIP hashtag with lines from a WIP and your tweet might be included in a https://t.co/yUHUbxHNDt collaboration for authors who lean clean and readers who love them. The #CleanWIP theme for Wednesday, April 8 is DANCE. pic.twitter.com/Kiajv4WpY4
— CleanWIP Magazine (@cleanwip) April 8, 2020

The first order of business was to head to Thebault’s for a mid-morning coffee, an establishment that was part inn, part pie shop. He’d discovered the Elesolian habit sometime last year, and gleefully played traitor to his country’s favorite hot leaf water.#CleanWIP
Play
— Katelyn Buxton (@KBuxtonBooks) April 8, 2020

I limped through a summer meadow, my back leg stiff but working and my head tender. My fox tail swished through the tall stands of grass, and pollen dusted my nose. I sneezed, and two butterflies #danced upward from columbine.#cleanWIP #vss365
— ML Farb (@FarbMl) April 8, 2020

“Thank you for helping me, Tol. I don’t deserve such personal attention from a hero.”

“I am no hero, Precious, just an engineer.”

“Well, you’re my hero anyway.”

Soft music began to play from somewhere, and Tol rolled his eyes. “Briggs, that’s enough, thank you.” #CleanWIP
— D. Art and Kay McKinney (@dartkaymckinney) April 8, 2020

By M. L. Farb

(Photo credit: Allef Vinicius)

I started writing poetry in college, when I took a one-week graduate-level poetry course. I ate, drank, and slept poetry. It seeped into my blood and still pumps through me, impacting all my writing.

My favorite lesson from the poetry course was: Poetry is a snapshot of life. Capture the senses and emotions of a moment.

The following poem is still a work in progress, capturing a moment in my early-married life.

Harvest Ball

New parents with six-week-old baby in tow,
we trudge through snow to the harvest ball.

Exhaustion from baby nursing nights
and intense school days
melts under music.

We jive and spin to the
rich brass call of Sing, Sing, Sing.

I float in his arms as we
trace the steps of Strauss’ Vienna Waltz.

We laugh our way through fast songs.
He has natural rhythm and style.
I follow in stumbling imitation.
Walk like an Egyptian and Cotton Eye Joe

I lay my head on his shoulder
to the gentle swaying of Lady in Red.

Our baby watches from her car seat,
then begs to join.
We dance, her nestled between us,
until she falls asleep.

A limbo line starts.
I try my luck and startle to find that
pregnancy limbered my joints.
I skim under the stick at waist height.
He cheers me on.

We return to our dancing.
Two become one in music and movement.

Hours later we return home,
the dance making our steps light over snow
and our hearts ready for the coming struggles.

Connect with the author: M. L. Farb

Website/Blog: https://mlfarbauthor.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MLFarbAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FarbMl
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/M-L-Farb/e/B07TKYDNHD

CleanWIP Magazine has obtained from the author non-exclusive right to publish or republish this content. The author retains copyright.

The CleanWIP Experience

We work closely with published authors and writers who are aspiring to be published as well as other creative people such as artists, poets, and songwriters in our CleanWIP Facebook group for authors (et al) and via the #CleanWIP hashtag game to bring readers interesting sneak peeks into their works-in-progress plus full-featured articles, personal reflections on the thoughts and struggles from a rough draft to a published work, and special collaborations on various topics.

We encourage authors to use the #CleanWIP hashtag to share sneak peeks related to the day’s theme from unpublished works. This helps us provide content our readers love and expect. For the same reason, we also encourage use of the hashtag for a single relevant release day announcement. On Fridays, we relax the structure even further and encourage using #CleanWIP to share relevant news, interesting teases from a work-in-progress or published work (purchase links encouraged on Fridays), or something else our readers might love. Actual use of the hashtag is not within our control and even on this site we will sometimes share #CleanWIP content that doesn’t strictly meet these guidelines.