“Tango” by Isabel Hermano

Drunken Tango on The Floor

Inspired by the painting “Tango” by Isabel Hermano
For Isabel Hermano the artist

Their colored inks were spilled not poured
as they danced three long- steps across a tiled floor.
Those tango winds rippled the accordion,
arm dropping
to a dip,
he left teeth marks upon her wrist,
wild eyed,
he grabbed a stolen kiss.

Then she was just a drunken ripped tornado
that descended into a deep and purple haze
stirred into fruity caramel and sprinkled with nut glaze.

He danced her heels over headdress
then reeled her in so extra tight,
there was not a doubt she was liquid on love
and would turn into a two-four- one step-puddle
at his feet,
before the clock struck midnight.

It was when the cold and hot of him and her
met across a room,
and tangled in a tango
that melted legs off the piano
incinerating the vinyl table tops.

They became another pair of drunken lovers
scuffing up the floor,
he twirled her and over-wound her,
barred the windows and the doors.
They were free -forming into toffee,
tossing all caution to the whores.
He could have melted that city down,
before their dance was on its second round,
while all the other ladies paled on sight.
She was a supernatural-counter-clockwise-thing,
held only to the ground by perfect timing,
taut arms, and a tightly, tethered -lead- string.

They stumbled in and out of grace,
her fast breath gently blowing through his face,
hips matched in perfect sync,
the patrons mute and slack-jawed in silk and lace.
There was not an inch of room for all the rest…
so they cleared out to the bar instead,  
like a twister through tornado alley,
her hot spot riding up his leg.
They were frosting on the dance floor,
spreading out to cover more,
if you’d lit a match they’d have lit on fire,
ninety- proof of alcoholic love,
calves and pelvis riding on a two-backed dancing storm  
descending from the nimbus clouds above.

Flames of flamboyant dance moves ,
she was his bull and he rode her in red,
there was not an inch of room for other couples,
so they cleared the bar and fled.
He snapped his cape, and cracked his whip,
until she full- out bent her knee,
as he pressed her tighter to his will,
for the tango- dancing world to see.

It was when the cold and hot
of him and her
met across a room and tangled in a tango,
that melted legs off the piano,
incinerating the vinyl table tops.

They became another pair of drunken lovers
scuffing up the floor
he twirled her and over-wound her,
barred the windows and the doors.
He danced her heels over headdress
then reeled her in so tight,
there was not a doubt she was drunk on love
and would turn into a two-four one- step puddle
at his feet.
before the clock struck midnight.

Karima Hoisan
March 14, 2012
LINC Island Bay of Tranquility

* Footnote.

“Tango” was a birthday gift from Isabel last week. She told me a story of what inspired her to paint this glorious passionate abstract, and she sent me the music she also used while she was painting. As soon as I saw it, and then heard her story of seeing a couple dancing a perfect and almost “out-of -control” tango that cleared the dance floor until they were the only ones on it, I listened to her music and inspired by this painting, and the wonderful classical tango by Astor Piazzolla, I took poetic license and  imagined it in my mind, creating this very energetic and sensual poem, something radically different from my last few poems..Thank you Isabel for this colorful and beautiful gift, that shifted my poetic gears:)
I will be performing it for the first time Sunday March 18th at 12noon at DNA Art and Music Fusion.  If you would like to come to my reading, I will be doing two poems inspired by Isabel’s Art, and many more.
Hope you will join me. Your taxi here: DNA Art and Music Fusion slurl