If Only Poem by RIC BASTASA

if only i know how to dance
then i will dance with you

if only i know how to sing
then i will sing with you

if only i know how to be you
then i will be you not just with you

you wish, and i may make your wish my command
like the genie of the three wishes

but my dear, i am myself all through and through
i dance my own dance, and i sing my own song, and i behave
the way i am, and want myself to be

i proclaim myself, my individuality, i do not wish to imitate you,
neither you to imitate me,

for if i become you and you become me,
half of you and half of me, looking alike in all ways,
a mirror image of a self to another self

will that not be boring? and damning? and degrading?
and cheap and unfashionable?