El tango

somehow I thought I knew you

or maybe dreamt you

beyond consciousness

I called out your name

and yielded to the tempo

which cuts open the flesh

a scar heals the wound

the heart goes on beating, why

El tango

the music plays on

the dancers dance

a boy danced on the edge

of the precipice

and now sleeps on the bottom

of the sea

what was his name

the music plays on

the dancers dance

a woman waits

under the stars

the hem of her dress

flutters in the breeze

a phantom invisible

searching for the phantom

of a phantom embrace

the music plays on

the dancers dance

the old woman

too much paint

on her face

sits smiling, patient

under the stars

El tango, all knowing

of desire and

desire past

the music plays on

the dancers dance

El tango, eternal,

under the stars