Time To Add A Twist To Our Tango Poem by Sarah Mkhonza

We have had our funny ways of doing,
Where you pull and I pull, and now
We have to add a twist to our tango;
For I may just as well call it quits,
For I got in thinking we would make,
The swell steps and my dress would, fly
Away from my thighs, and everybody would
Say wow!

Now I see this was just us on a stage,
With no audience yet daily I waited, for
An applause that would not come. First
Your mother, who did not think I was much
To write home about, and said it outright.

Then your sister, who wanted a nurse to
Marry your doctor's certificate, for you
Two would work in the same practice,
Built by her, for the couple in her mind.

Now the kids came along, and we danced
A tango of four, for they had learned
From us a step or two, and felt like
This was how it is done. This talking
Things loud, and doing them half way,
So that the house looks like we are on
The move daily irks me.

The tango took a faster step, and the
Bank accounts got depleted, for college
Fees also called on our wisdom, of
Planning the future of our offspring,
Who had hoped theirs was a life planned,
In heaven for such was our tango.

Now I twist your arm, and you twist mine,
And people see love in the air when yours,
Is a hard pinch on my arm reminding me,
I am still being watched, especially when
Your mother comes to visit us.

The children love you and I, pinch or no
Pinch, for they never were loud these pinches
Of ours, for they were meant to remind me
That it is time to take a fast turn around,
And wow the audience unknown, to our weak
Points. Now that the results are being
Announced, I want out, for I cannot dance
With the same loser in this competition,
That is always won by Russians, far away
And not me and you.


You ask me what we will tell our children?
Why not tell them to start their own
Dance, for our is over, and the stage is
Open, to the next couple from the next
Generation, of millennials like them, for
They read and learn everything on social
Media, where they would get an audience
Endless, in this day where we wash all
Dirty Linen in public, like I am doing
Now.

If the world asks us what happened,
I will say I broke my leg on stage,
And leave you to explain to all,
What you were doing when I fell,
For you said you would catch me,
Till us death do part right there,
Where we added a twist to our tango,
And the world finally looked on,
And waited for the final applause.