The Dancer of Atlanta

[Jet]

Dance #11

...and then I said

if I allow my mind to remember her face—her voice—her touch —I'm sure I won't stay sane.
But God, just one more dance with her before I let her go and I vow to never love again.
For as pure and as true and as deep as it runs, Your eye alone sees that this is a great and final love.

Please,

let the music play and let me dance with her one last time.
And I will take that single instant with her, in all the ages,
over a lifetime of never having known the pain of loving her.

Surely You, who moves mountains and paints the sky,
will not deny my heart.

My sorrow runs as water.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Jet]

Dance #28: Rocket 88

I strolled into the rock house, my t-shirt sleeves
rolled high above my biceps, levis cuffed around dusty black cinch boots
from a long day at the yard. I combed back my DA, then stepped onto the dance floor.
Couples began to clear a path for me as I made my way across the floor,
and that's when I saw you sitting there.

The music played and a sax wailed; taffeta skirts twirled and swayed to
Trying To Get To You, and girls in black suede heels and guys in
rockabilly shirts formed either side of line that shot straight to your table.

I didn't take my eyes off of you as I drew near. Then I stopped and extended my
hand to you and my ID bracelet caught the glint of a soft light above.

"Would you dance with me?"

You looked up from your drink and from the conversation with your friends
which hadn't held your attention. Your thoughts had drifted much of the night
and you wondered if anyone would ask you to dance. You smiled when I spoke
and when you did, you were beautiful to me.

"Yes, I will."

You had seen me at school and had heard things. Nice girls didn't go out with him.
Girls get into trouble with him because he's wild and he drives a fast car.
"And how fast does she run?"you thought to yourself as I put I arms around your waist
to draw you into me.

Just how fast?

On this night, you were going to find out because I wouldn't get enough of you with a spin
on the dance floor. No, I would take you for a spin in the Rocket 88 where it all began,
you and me..

And we flew, darlin', in my Rocket 88 and into the night of October, 1957...

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbfnh1oVTk0"]YouTube- Rocket 88 (Original Version) - Ike Turner/Jackie Brenston[/ame]

[Jet]

Dance #15: The Very Thought of You

I happened to think of you today,
for the first time in a long time.

I remembered an earlier time
spending hours getting to know you,
crossing your years and mine
even across the continuum
it seemed, drawing closer
to you with each passing day
until I knew I wanted you with
everything that I am.

I had never met anyone like you,
and I'm am still carried away
by the thought of your presence
and grace and your voice
and words and...

You took me by storm
and off to that place of desire
and marriage and of wanting you
to be the one who kissed me goodbye
for the last time.

I was so sure.
And I had fallen so deeply in
love with you that

"The very thought of you
and I forget to do
the ordinary things
that I ought to do..."

which was to see
and to know that
you never once
loved me until it was
too late in the dance.

But I've let go of you
a thousand times over,
a thousand ways.

And this writing
tonight is to express
my closure in the smallest
of ways really,

and only because tonight I had
a very rare thought of you...

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qil6s5HrimE"]YouTube- Rod Stewart（洛 �都�）08 The Very Thought Of You就是关于你[/ame]

[Andrew, Jr.]

Keep posting your writings. I always enjoyed them.

[Jet]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Keep posting your writings. I always enjoyed them.

Thank you bro.

[Jet]

Dance# 7: Rio Rio Pt I

There is a place unseen
called Rio Rio, far off the beaten
path where angels fear to tread,
and where mortal men are lead
astray to be emptied of themselves.

I remember the agony of a night in Rio Rio,
a city of bandits and outlaws and thieves and fugitives
and renegades and a dark alley unknown and unseen
in the natural world. It was a short cut, I thought,
to a better life on the other side.

As I walked toward the alley, the soft murmurs
of street life and street lights as I knew them,
faded in that corner and time where nobody
had gone before.

That was then...

and this is long after,

and the time to go back to the alley in an
unseen city where nobody saw what
happened except God.

"Pay attention," God said. "Tonight, I will
begin to show you what happened in Rio Rio,
through my eyes and according to My Divine Will.
Peace be still and remember the color brown
per My instructions. In the end, I will demand an
accounting of that night in Rio Rio."

Now,

Johnny Mathis is playing in the background,
and more than anything I want to be dancing
close with someone than to go back to Rio Rio.

[Jet]

Dance #7: Rio Rio Pt 2 of 2

The incident in Rio Rio
was like a dark stranger
who sat in the corner of the
room waiting for its
opportunity to empty me.

The dark stranger began to hiss and chuckle
with soft groans as a light between the
stranger and me grew brighter.

Nothing was to be missed or overlooked.

And then God said,

This is the lie you bargained for
and the lie that I am saving you from
which is yourself as the dark one
intends for you to be.

But it has no claims on you and,
mercifully, the will that I gave
you was strong to withstand its
violent tauntings; you were to be emptied
of your self in the alley in the
eleventh hour by the dark one.

But I watched and protected you from its
vileness, reprobate that it is.

And I asked nothing of you, then or now,
and I am showing you so in My light so that
you may see that nothing is required of you
except love of Me and yourself and others.

You have been tricked by the
dark one that you were to emptied
as one who was unacceptable to Me.
Now, you must face the dark one with My help
and the recounting of what happened in Rio Rio.

I watched as it and lied and tricked you
so that it would reach the recesses of
your heart which is the gateway to your soul.

I watched agony consume you
with its consummate horrors which are lies.

I watched as it unmercifully filled
your mind and heart with terror
in the alley so that you would be emptied
by its violent will and discarded as nothing
of my creation.

This was its grand illusion.

God's voice was small in the
bright room where the dark
stranger waited to take my soul.
It did not hear God speak to me
as it waited for me to recant and
concede to its filthy wishes.

I have a secret to reveal to you,
now, God said, in His small quiet
voice. My secret will release
you from the dark one who
will concede to Me as all truth
and vanish with its arms empty and
its claim on you, void. Then it will chase
its tail like a mad dog back in the alley in
Rio Rio forever.

And My secret is this:
I love you as I made the spirit within
you to be who you are. It was nature
who made you in the temporal.

It lied to you and told you that
you must change to be acceptable
to Me. Then it planned to empty you
of your self and steal all it could until
your last breath whispered its name
in victory against Me.

But you are made by Me as you are.
God continued softly, My secret is
that it was I who emptied Myself in Rio Rio
so that you may live.The victory
is mine, and you have already won.

As His words descended on my heart
peace began to wash over me.

I turned to the corner as
the dark stranger came off its chair
and walked toward me. I stood
perfectly still as it said to me faintly,
Admit to me that you are who I say you
are before I hand you over to God.

There was silence between us—
a deafening silence where anything
could happen. But I did not shatter
or quake as God held me up to
the dark one who had a stench
I cannot describe.

Minutes passed like hours
before its horrible visage
began to fade until finally it
was vanquished.

At this, God said,

You are mine and I have come for
you and claim you as my creature and save
you from the lies it told you about yourself.

Only I can bear the alley
in Rio Rio where men, who
are not mine, are emptied of
themselves. And I alone conquered
Rio Rio in your place.

I have called you by name and
so you must never look back at
Rio Rio or the alley or the
violence of being emptied.

This is the end of Rio Rio
where travesties and horrors are
accounted for; and which I will deal
with according to My will.

Then My love, pressed down and running over,
will fill you so that you may begin your new life
in which you will dance for joy and glorify Me.

And I will toss your memory of Rio Rio
into My Sea of Forgetfulness, and you will
live your life as I alone have foreseen.
And I will love you as I have always
loved you

exactly as you are.



—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Arwen]

Originally Posted by Ol' Jet

Dance #15: The Very Thought of You


And this small writing
tonight is to express
my closure in the smallest
of ways really,

and only because tonight I had
very rare thought of you...

—The Dancer of Atlanta

I have enjoyed reading this thread tonight. This piece...this part of it really spoke to me. Thanks for sharing.

[Jet]

Thank you Arwen

[Jet]

Dance#18

Tonight we danced to music
from another time.
She was in step with me—
in step with my soul and I with hers.

I kissed her long and deep and whispered,
"You're one with me, and I will never let you go."

Then,

I drew her in tightly
as if to never let her go.
When I opened my eyes
she wasn't there.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Arwen]

Originally Posted by Ol' Jet

I drew her in tightly
as if to never let her go.
When I opened my eyes
she wasn't there.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

This one brought tears to my eyes, Jet. I really am enjoying these. Hoping for more soon.

[Jet]

Dance #43

...and then I stood in the cold and looked through the window.
I saw the merriment, the laughter and warm lights.
She had covered herself with a blanket of a finer life
of lawyering and connections and southern decency.

I wondered if she was really happy.

She must have been because anything less than
acceptable would not have complimented her sensibilities.

I watched and wondered what happened to the girl
who would have preferred wild flowers over wealth.

She would have loved and wanted an honest man.
And yet, I think not; my love had no reserve.

Then her partner embraced her before presenting her a gift—
a small, delicate replica of a porcelin geisha.

And they danced and celebrated all they had.

And somewhere hidden in the years or months or days
to come, something awaited, written in the annals
of time that, for me, there is recompense.

[Jet]

Dance #43

...and then I stood in the cold and looked through the window.
I saw the merriment, the laughter and warm lights.
She had covered herself with a blanket of a finer life
of lawyering and connections and high handedness.

I wondered if she was really happy.

She must have been because anything less than
acceptable would not have complimented her southern sensibilities.

I watched and wondered what happened to the girl
who would have preferred wild flowers to wealth.

She would have loved and wanted an honest man.
And yet, I think not; my love had no reserve.

Then her partner embraced her before presenting her a gift—
a small, delicate porcelin replica of a geisha.

And they danced and celebrated all they had.

And somewhere hidden in the years or months or days
to come, something awaited, written in the annals
of time that, for me, there is recompense.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Jet]

Dance #21 The Soldier

Once upon a time there was a soldier who had fought many battles.
He was wounded in battle and withdrew where he remained alone
for many years.

Then one day a beautiful woman found him. She asked him his name
and smiled at him. She began to talk to him, and as she did the soldier found himself
listening to words fall from the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.

He listened as she told him many things in the days that followed;
she had touched him deeply until finally—she drew him to herself.

The soldier felt alive and a sense of himself that he thought
had died long ago. He danced with joy.

She had drawn him away from his battles and wounds,
touching him deeply. And as the days and months passed,
he began love her with unspeakable depth.

They laughed and cried and walked and talked of many things.
And one day, she said, "Come home to me, I love you. Come home to me."

He had fallen in love with her so deeply, he asked her, "are you the one?
In his mind, he felt so sure that he had found the woman for whom he'd waited a lifetime.
"Are you the one who will kiss me goodbye for the last time?"

"Yes," she said. "I know you. I knew you the first time
I saw you. And I want you."

And so he traveled far to be with her and to begin his new life with her.
How he loved her! He would lay down his life for her, he thought,
and give her everything he could in life —
and this was only the beginning of their long life together.

And then one day, the soldier said, "I love you."

But she said nothing. She did not look at him on this day because
she did not want him.

"Why?" he asked her through his tears.

"Because of your wounds and scars," she said. "You are not the man that I want,
nor are you the man I thought you were."

"But I love you," he said, knowing that this was the beginning of the end.
He stood there waiting for her to kiss him for the last time.

She turned from him. Because it was never to be.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Jet]

Dance #16: Would You?

If I sat next to you would you think I cared?
If I asked you to slow dance, would you?

Would you run through hayfields
and laugh away the years with me?
Would you kiss me in the moonlight?
Would you teach me how?

Would you join me in a life long duet?

I wonder.

Would you love me heart and soul?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnU-GMlqpyg"]YouTube- Heart and Soul Duet - Piano[/ame]

Would you?

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[Jet]

Dance #20: The Sun Dances, My Young Emotions


Sweet Darlin',

I'm not very good at this you know. But tonight, I thought about you—
what you would feel like in my arms slow dancing to an old Ricky Nelson record.
So simple. I would love to hold you and, without words, fall more in love with you
than I have ever loved. You have my heart, you see, and it skips a beat at the thought
of belonging to you. I would twirl you gently and watch that beautiful grin of yours
widen and your eyes fall softly to the floor as you came back to me.
I would never let you go, because surely then I would have fallen into your soul.

a world of hope and laughter and tears and pain
at times a gentle breeze in a hurricane
a world full of doubt but love works it out
young emotions

I have never let on you know, about your way and how deeply you move me.
I close my eyes to see you and my head spins and clocks in the room stop ticking.
You stop the clock, sweet darlin', and make my sun dance forever. So loved.

I've never told you that I would be tender as tender can be—
my lips caressing yours—then on the corner of your mouth to kiss you there slowly.
Twirl and sway beautiful girl. Let me pick you up and carry you off to a life together.

we'll face each new tomorrow, dear, undismayed
for our love will keep us together
and our love will help us to weather
these young emotions

You are my ecstasy.
—The Dancer of Atlanta

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8O5XSPXIXA"]YouTube- Young Emotions/Ricky Nelson[/ame]

[Princess4u]

Originally Posted by Ol' Jet

Dance #20: The Sun Dances, My Young Emotions


Sweet Darlin',

I'm not very good at this you know. But tonight, I thought about you—
what you would feel like in my arms slow dancing to an old Ricky Nelson record.
So simple. I would love to hold you and, without words, fall more in love with you
than I have ever loved. You have my heart, you see, and it skips a beat at the thought
of belonging to you. I would twirl you gently and watch that beautiful grin of yours
widen and your eyes fall softly to the floor as you came back to me.
I would never let you go, because surely then I would have fallen into your soul.

a world of hope and laughter and tears and pain
at times a gentle breeze in a hurricane
a world full of doubt but love works it out
young emotions

I have never let on you know, about your way and how deeply you move me.
I close my eyes to see you and my head spins and clocks in the room stop ticking.
You stop the clock, sweet darlin', and make my sun dance forever. So loved.

I've never told you that I would be tender as tender can be—
my lips caressing yours—then on the corner of your mouth to kiss you there slowly.
Twirl and sway beautiful girl. Let me pick you up and carry you off to a life together.

we'll face each new tomorrow, dear, undismayed
for our love will keep us together
and our love will help us to weather
these young emotions

You are my ecstasy.
—The Dancer of Atlanta

YouTube- Young Emotions/Ricky Nelson

Simply enchanting....swept me off my feet.....dreamy!!!

[Jet]

Thanks for dropping by, Princess. That's sweet of you.

[Jet]

Dance #20: My Sun Dances, Young Emotions

Sweet Darlin',

I'm not very good at this you know. But tonight, I thought about you—
and how you would feel in my arms slow dancing to an old Ricky Nelson record.
Simpler times. I would love to hold you and, without words, fall more in love with you
than I have ever loved. You have my heart, you see, and it skips a beat at the thought of belonging to you.
I would twirl you gently and watch that beautiful grin of yours widen
and your eyes fall softly to the floor as you came back to me.
I would never let you go, because surely then I would have fallen into your soul.

a world of hope and laughter and tears and pain
at times a gentle breeze in a hurricane
a world full of doubt but love works it out
young emotions

I have never let on you know, about your way and how deeply you move me.
I close my eyes to see you and my head spins and clocks in the room stop ticking.
You stop my clocks, sweet darlin', and make my sun dance forever. So loved.

I've never told you that I would be tender as tender can be—
my lips caressing yours—then on the corner of your mouth to kiss you there slowly.
Twirl and sway beautiful girl. Let me pick you up and carry you off to a life together.

we'll face each new tomorrow, dear, undismayed
for our love will keep us together
and our love will help us to weather
these young emotions

You are my ecstasy.

—The Dancer of Atlanta

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by7s9i9rKQc"]YouTube- Ricky Nelson～Young Emotions-New Video[/ame]

[cinderella]

Originally Posted by Ol' Jet

Dance# 7: Rio Rio Pt I

There is a place unseen
called Rio Rio, far off the beaten
path where angels fear to tread,
and where mortal men are lead
astray to be emptied of themselves.

I remember the agony of a night in Rio Rio,
a city of bandits and outlaws and thieves and fugitives
and renegades and a dark alley unknown and unseen
in the natural world. It was a short cut, I thought,
to a better life on the other side.

As I walked toward the alley, the soft murmurs
of street life and street lights as I knew them,
faded in that corner and time where nobody
had gone before.

That was then...

and this is long after,

and the time to go back to the alley in an
unseen city where nobody saw what
happened except God.

"Pay attention," God said. "Tonight, I will
begin to show you what happened in Rio Rio,
through my eyes and according to My Divine Will.
Peace be still and remember the color brown
per My instructions. In the end, I will demand an
accounting of that night in Rio Rio."

Now,

Johnny Mathis is playing in the background,
and more than anything I want to be dancing
close with someone than to go back to Rio Rio.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuOfuXqFZdc"]YouTube- Johnny Mathis - I Will Wait For You[/ame]