Family Dance

She is short
And little
thin, legs 2.5 feet long
A small torso another 2 feet
And then her head
She stands a little below my head
That I came from inside of her
Is one of those tricks in quantum physics
Or like one of those strange posters
Where one has to cross one’s eyes
To see the picture,
To comprehend the physical aspect of motherhood
is to use the mind
In a novel way
There she is
Laughing
High off of family members whose heads bounce in the
Crowd of well-dressed cocktail drinkers
She can’t stay with one, because she must see all
Takes me around
“my daughter” everyone nods, we all wonder where the
Conversation is to go from that nutritious start
She doesn’t concern herself
She simply wanted to make the presentation
We hold hands and twirl around the group
Mingle, as they say

Later love music comes on
its a wedding
She is with me on the dance floor
He joins us
He bounces from right foot to left
His smile is the one he gave me
Square
And gushing
We have been dancing for years
He knows this
I was his designated dance partner
Though all of that has blurred now
All three of the Abolfazli women
Take turns with the jigging dad

He is tall
And thin
His nose bends down
Like mine
His eyebrows grow to the sky
His almond eyes spurt out eyelashes
Like water

Leila is there
We are four
Four on the dance floor
We twirl
Trade
Swirl around each other
It is fluid
Mom and dad dance
Leila and Mary dance
Mom and Mary dance
Leila and Dad dance
It’s a republic
All people are free
It took thirty years